News

Celebrities using Hypnosis in Childbirth

Mon, 07 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000

If Kate Middleton could enjoy giving birth naturally using hypnobirthing, we're sure that a lot more women around the world will want to try it too!

"Not too posh to push!"

It was widely reported that Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, successfully used hypnotherapy to treat her acute morning sickness in early pregnancy and opted for a natural hypnobirth for Prince George, supported by Prince William.

The Daily Mail and Vanity Fair reported that Kate described the birth to her best friends as "perfect" and said that her birthing plan went off without a hitch, enabling her to deliver naturally.

"She said that it was straightforward and there were no complications. She wanted a natural birth and was so happy that she was able to have one."

Other celebrity fans of hypnobirthing include:

Bridget Fonda, Giselle Bunchen, Miranda Kerr, Melissa Joan Hart, Alanis Morisette, Emily Deschanel, & Jessica Alba, says:

"I highly recommend it. It just makes you chill. I was freaked my first time going into labour, like, 'What if I panic? What if I just freak out and am not prepared for it?' This just prepares you."

Article from The London Evening Standard

Sun, 27 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Check out a recent article from The London Evening Standard on hypnosis and childbirth.

Read the article here:

http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/health/hypnosis-is-the-new-way-to-give-birth-painlessly-6567850.html

Article from The Daily Mail

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Check out a recent article from the The Daily Mail on hypnosis and childbirth.

Read the article here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1356592/Mothers-taught-hypnotise-giving-birth-NHS-trial.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Article from The Guardian on Hypnosis and Childbirth

Sun, 30 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Check out a recent article from The Guardian on hypnosis and childbirth.

Read the article here:

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/jan/30/home-births-womb-of-my-own

Article from The Daily Echo

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Check out a recent article from the London Evening Standard of hypnosis and childbirth.

Read the article here:

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/leisure/mum/news_and_ideas/8404811.An_entrancing_time/

A study into the effectiveness of hypnosis

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000

A new study has been published on the effective use of hypnosis in obstetrics.

Read the study here:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00207140701338654#.Uysatfl_vpw

Jolie Doula Salisbury District

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Easibirthing® is pleased to recommend Doula services in Salisbury provided by Jolie Compton who had training in the easy birthing method for the birth of her own son.

Check out her website here:

http://joliedoula.wordpress.com/

Is the Duchess of Cambridge thinking of using hypnosis to ease pain of childbirth?

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Kate is believed to be considering a ‘hypno birth’ for the royal baby
The Duchess of Cambridge is due to give birth next month
Hypnosis birth can help reduce pain without using anaesthesia

Congratulations to Lucy and Mark on the birth of baby Samuel; official labour 24 minutes!

Sun, 30 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Hi Sharon,

I just wanted to update you on our news. Samuel Isaac Stanley Dawson was born at home on Saturday 1st March at 7.43 pm.

Although it was the home birth we were after it was a little different to the one I had imagined! Although I had been having contractions all afternoon, I thought it was false labour as they weren't that painful and weren't progressing beyond 1 in every 8-10 minutes. I walked the dog at 4.30 pm and was in the bath with Freya, our eldest daughter, at 6.45 pm, an hour before Samuel was born.

After Mark put Freya to bed, I got out of the bath and my waters promptly broke. After that my body went immediately into push mode so I got Mark to call an ambulance as I knew Samuel was on his way.

As Mark let in the paramedics downstairs, I birthed Samuel's head upstairs, and the rest of his body quickly followed as the first paramedic came into the bedroom. He is healthy and well and I'm happy we could stay at home and didn't need to transfer to the hospital for any additional checks.

I had a visit from the midwife today and she asked me how I felt about the birth. In answer, I feel pretty proud. I always believed it is possible to give birth at home, naturally, with no intervention, and that's exactly what we did. I had been listening to your CDs religiously and I'm sure they had a great part to play in building this belief and helping me keep relaxed and confident about the whole birthing experience.

Once again many thanks for your help

Best regards

Lucy Dawson

Congratulations to Georgiana and Kevin on the birth of their baby boy, Jack Oliver George on 14th April.

Wed, 16 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000

It was a natural birth in a water pool. Just some gas and air for pain relief. I found it easier than expected, managed not to tear and everybody was amazed by my performance.

Congratulations to Olivia on the birth of her baby girl at Salisbury Hospital on 21st February using hypnobirthing

Thu, 23 Feb 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Had my natural VBAC birth yesterday at 41 + 4 weeks. The shadow of induction was the only thing that stressed me at any point in my pregnancy and I'm so glad I went with my gut, which said that baby would come when ready. Had tons of support from so many people, including this lovely group. Hope to catch up soon!

Infertility: When it is all in the mind article in 'Wiltshire View' Magazine

Tue, 04 Apr 2017 00:00:00 +0000

INFERTILITY – WHEN IT’S ALL IN THE MIND

21 March 2017

Once a couple decides to try for a baby, as the months pass, all too soon it can become all encompassing, even obsessive. If month after month it continues not to happen – she can experience feeling detached and isolated from the world, a profound sense of sadness, scared of ‘what this might mean’.

Infertility affects one in seven couples within the UK. The journey can be an emotional rollercoaster with an unpredictable end. Individuals involved can often feel helpless. This can negatively affect their relationship with their partner, withdrawing from the person who was previously their primary source of support, leaving both parties feeling isolated in their grief.

The feelings of helplessness, and sometimes irrational guilt or inadequacy, can be further exacerbated if, beyond medical investigations, the reasons for not being able to conceive are unexplained (no identified male or female cause) as in 25% of cases.

But few couples are aware that infertility can, in many cases, be exacerbated or even caused by psychological factors.

The mind has enormous power over the body, which is constantly influenced by our emotions, thoughts and beliefs. While # many factors are responsible for infertility, our mindset can affect the delicately- balanced hormonal system which, in turn, controls ovulation, spermatogenesis, implantation of a foetus and maintaining the pregnancy to term. So, by addressing these subconscious barriers, a wealth of clinical evidence shows we can increase our chances of natural conception, and IVF and other assisted fertility treatments’ success rates.

Stress can have a big effect on fertility. Stress hormones affect the hypothalamus, pituitary glands and reproductive organs. In women and men under stress, the reproductive hormone prolactin is over-produced. The hypothalamus stops secreting gonadotrophin releasing hormone, which in turn will affect the release of both the luteinising hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone. As these hormones play a part in stimulating ovulation and sperm production, fertility can be affected in both partners.

The neurochemical barrage associated with stress and the activation of the sympathetic nervous system (“fight or flight”) can be as easily triggered by a threat to self-esteem or dignity, such as a woman’s perception of herself as “failing” to conceive, a fear of not being a good parent, as by an actual physical threat. A highly stressful job, unresolved guilt over a previous abortion or other traumatic incident, anxiety, depression, or even experience with numerous invasive infertility-related procedures, can have the same result. Stress activating subconscious blocks can be a causal factor in infertility whether there is an additional physiological cause or not.

With the release of “emergency” hormones throughout the body, the body is on alarm, and energy is directed toward the areas needed for actual “fight” or “flight” such as the arms and legs, and away from areas the brain considers less important. Unfortunately, the reproductive system is the most expendable. Nature is invested in us NOT conceiving at times of stress or perceived threat, as it is not the optimal time of survival for us or future offspring, when the body’s responses are needed elsewhere.

The more men have sex, or ejaculate in other ways, the more healthy sperm they will produce. But what happens to a man’s libido if he is depressed, or if sex become a chore, or he feels his partner is just treating him like ‘sperm donation’? There is also growing evidence that female orgasm also aids fertility by helping sperm into the cervix.

Tips for increasing fertility

Talk to partner calmly and rationally so you can make decisions that are best for both of you
Reduce stress so enhancing chance of conceiving either naturally or with assisted reproductive methods, such as IVF
Identify any subconscious blocks to conceiving
Ensure you give focus to aspects of your life outside of fertility issues, even if you don’t always feel like it
Discover sexual intimacy as a pleasurable experience again for both of you, so that it doesn’t feel like a chore
Spend time with your partner, re-discover your life as a couple
Seek the right support to help you regain sense of control over your life. If pursuing fertility treatments, this will help you cope without feeling as if your life and body have been taken over
Look for ways of bringing regular practice of relaxation into your life; such as self-hypnosis, meditation, yoga.
While investigations and treatments are more often focussed on a woman, we must remember the emotional toll can be great for your male partner too.
Think about exercise and diet as conception requires a healthy response from the reproductive system.

Article written by Sharon Mustard, Psychotherapist in Salisbury

Read the full article at http://viewmagazines.co.uk/front-page/infertility-when-its-all-in-the-mind/

Kate Middleton speaks out about the challenges of motherhood

Wed, 05 Apr 2017 00:00:00 +0000

As a society, let's encourage new mums to speak out, and speak the right support at the right time.

Kate, 35, spoke of the ‘sheer overwhelming experience’ of motherhood, and the insecurities she's felt because of it.

‘Becoming a mother has been such a rewarding and wonderful experience,’ she said.

‘However, at times it has also been a huge challenge — even for me who has support at home that most mothers do not,’ the mother-of-two said during the London event which launched the Out of the Blue series of educational films about maternal mental health.

‘There is no rule book. No right or wrong. You just have to make it up and do the very best you can to care for your family,’ she said.

‘For many mothers — myself included — this can, at times, lead to lack of confidence and feelings of ignorance.’

Kate and her husband, Prince William, are parents to three-year-old Prince George and his sister, Princess Charlotte, who turns two in May.

Read the full article at https://www.netmums.com/life/kate-middleton-opens-up-about-the-challenges-of-motherhood

Where should you have your baby? The home versus hospital debate

Thu, 22 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Call You and Yours: Where Should You Have Your Baby?

A Radio 4 programme

Duration:: 55 minutes

First broadcast:: Tuesday 13 May 2014

Healthy pregnant women should be encouraged to have their babies in units led by midwives, according to draft guidance from an NHS watchdog. NICE, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, says a home birth can be just as safe for low-risk pregnancies as a hospital delivery. At the moment, about two in every 100 deliveries are home births. On Call You and Yours today, Where Should you have your baby? - home or hospital.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b042zsxz

Large decrease in number of births, ONS figures show

Wed, 23 Jul 2014 00:00:00 +0000

The number of births in England and Wales fell in 2013 by the largest annual amount in nearly 40 years, official figures show.

The Office for National Statistics said live births decreased from 729,674 to 698,512 in 2013, down 4.3% which is the biggest fall since 1975.

The average age of mothers was 30 compared with 29.8 years in 2012.

The "total fertility rate" - the number of children per woman - decreased from 1.94 to 1.85.

'Increasing trend'

The stillbirth rate fell to 4.7 per thousand births from 4.9 in 2012.

More than a quarter of live births were to mothers born outside the UK, an increase to 26.5% compared with 25.9% the previous year.

The annual fall in the total fertility rate (TFR) was also the largest since 1975.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) report said: "Changes in the TFR can result from changes in the timing of childbearing within women's lives as well as any changes in completed family size.

"It is not possible to determine at this stage whether the fall in the TFR and the number of live births in 2013 is indicative of an end to the general increasing trend recorded since 2001. Despite this recent drop, the number of births and the TFR remains high relative to figures for the last three decades."

The report said reasons for the decrease in fertility rates could include uncertainty over employment and career opportunities and government changes to the welfare system affecting benefits.

The ONS said the number of births had increased every year since 2001 - with the exception of a slight fall in 2009 - rising by 23% between 2001 and 2012.

Outside marriage

The average age of motherhood has reached 30 for the first time since records began in 1938.

The ONS said: "The average age of mothers has been increasing since 1975, with increasing numbers of women delaying childbearing to later ages.

"This may be due to a number of factors such as increased participation in higher education, increased female participation in the labour force, the increasing importance of a career, the rising opportunity costs of childbearing, labour market uncertainty, housing factors and instability of partnerships."

Nearly half of all babies (47.4%) were born outside marriage or civil partnership in 2013. The ONS said this continued a rising trend, with a figure of 41.4% in 2003.

Commenting on the report, Ann Furedi, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, said: "The average age of mothers in this country has hit 30 for the first time as many women are deciding to start their families later in life. Mothers are now on average older than women elsewhere in the world when they have their first baby.

"There may be many reasons for this, including the time it takes to achieve educational and professional development, as well as financial security - and it may also be a reflection of how seriously couples take the responsibility of having children in the 21st Century."

Louise Silverton, director for midwifery at the Royal College of Midwives, said the number of births remained "historically high".

She added: "Births are also becoming more complex, for example as the average age of mothers increases. This puts additional pressure on maternity services, and midwives want to give these women the best levels of care. They cannot do that if there are not enough of them."

Read the full article on http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28330429

Congratulations to Sarah on the birth of her baby boy, Joshua John on 11th August

Thu, 21 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Hi Sharon,

I attended your hypnosis course in June (I think!), I just to let you know the great news Joshua John safely arrived on 11 August at 11.19 pm weighing in at 7 pounds and 9 and a half ounces. Due to your course which helped me, I had him with just gas and air, unfortunately, I was not able to deliver in the birthing pool and had to get out once it got to the pushing stage keeping me calm using the anchor technique I managed to get out and go over to the bed.

Thank you so much for everything you did my mum and partner were amazing also, remembering what to say at the right time. Joshua was delivered and was very calm, stage 3 went very smoothly also and breastfeeding was like a duck to water. Thank you again for helping me to experience the actual joy of giving birth.

Love Sarah

Congratulations to Nicky and Richard on the birth of their baby girl on 4th August

Thu, 21 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Hello Sharon,
A quick note to let you know that we had a lovely baby girl on Tuesday night. Nicky was induced first thing Monday at 8 am and gave her final push at 5.53 pm Tuesday. Nicky and baby (name tbc) are both well. We would like to thank you very much for squeezing us onto your course, we genuinely believe your techniques helped us both. You'll be pleased to know Nicky only had gas and air.
Regards Richard Love and Nicky

Congratulations to Sam on the birth of her baby boy Jasper born on 1st August

Thu, 21 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Hi Sharon,

Just thought I'd let you know about the new addition to my family.

I had a wonderful water birth, under 6 hours from the first contraction to his arriving.

I can honestly say that I didn't feel any pain with contractions, I'm not going to lie and say I couldn't feel them when his head was coming out but that was only a few seconds of discomfort.

Sam :)

Beth Jordan Birth Story

Tue, 09 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Beth Jordan's birth story

To say that I’m squeamish is an understatement. I first fainted at school when I was 5 after I went with a friend whilst she had some dressings changed. I’ve never been able to watch casualty or similar programmes and even hearing about metal getting into an eye in a technology lesson resulted in me fainting and landing on the floor. Hospitals make me feel queasy-on many an occasion when visiting relatives, I’d be found in the corridor taking a breather so that the urge to faint would pass. So when I fell pregnant I was slightly worried about how I would cope in a hospital let alone with the medical equipment that would be around me! Hypnobirthing allowed me to get over my fear of childbirth. I can’t say that I used the visualisation techniques during my labour but I know that the course helped to remain calm during the process – and a 7.5-hour labour can’t be bad! Subconsciously I’m sure it allowed me to arrive at the hospital 6m dilated. It gave me a strength that I didn’t think I could possibly have.

The very early beginnings of my labour started in the early hours of Thursday 29^th May 2014. I woke in the night very wet. Luckily there was a towel ready on the bed as I thought my waters had broken. I then had a ‘show’. It was a very long night with what I thought were contractions. I was able to manage them lying in bed but it did mean I got very little sleep and the mucus plug was coming thick and fast!

I rang the midwife team first thing Thursday morning but by this time the pains had stopped. A midwife came to examine me and assured me that my waters hadn’t broken and I wasn’t in labour. I was to go about my normal business for the day as the baby could be a long time yet. With my hospital bag packed in the car, we visited my Grandma as it was her birthday, met a friend for coffee in Salisbury and visited my in-laws for tea. I didn’t feel particularly comfortable that day and by the time we were at my in-laws, I was having to pause whilst the pain came and went. I was still putting this down to Braxton hicks.

The rest of Thursday evening and early morning Friday is a bit of a blur. We went to bed but by 1 am I was having contractions. The journey to Salisbury was a quick one as it was so early and a few speed limits may have been broken! When we arrived at the labour ward at about 5.40 am, I went in by myself and my husband parked the car. Eventually, I was examined and was found to be 6cm. I was quickly moved to a delivery suite!

I remember spending the rest of the labour until the pushing stage in a sort of trance. I can’t really remember anything eventful happening! My cervix was fully dilated at around 7.50 am. The wait for the final contraction felt like an eternity but Beth was finally born at 8.27 am. The placenta followed a few minutes later (I was completely unaware of this). It’s still a mystery as to when my waters broke as it didn’t happen at the hospital.

Beth was put on my chest (I was still in my pyjamas!)

Selina, 1^st baby

Congratulations to Ally on the birth of her baby boy, Jack

Fri, 12 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Hi Sharon, just to let you know I had Jack on Sunday 7th weighing 7lb 12ozs.

Congratulations to Susanna and Tom on the birth of their baby boy Bryn Meredydd John on 10th September

Thu, 25 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Our boy Bryn Meredydd John David was born on Wednesday 10th September at 2 pm weighing in at a hefty 9lb 2oz. The labour was relatively quick 9hrs 9mins from the very start at home to arrival. Labour had to involve an epidural in the end as Bryn was slightly on the twist. The hypnobirthing really worked, cannot thank you enough, the medical team were astounded at how calm I was, and so was I!

Congratulations to Catherine on the birth of her baby Cleo Evie born on 29th August using easibirthing techniques

Thu, 20 Nov 2014 00:00:00 +0000

I had a baby girl, Cleopatra (Cleo) Evie Barrington on 29 August 2014 at 12.40 pm in a pool room at SDH watching the pool being filled up as there had been no time for water birth!

I was induced in the end as I was overdue and over 40! My due date was my 40th birthday and NICE guidelines say that no woman over 40 should be allowed to go overdue, most are induced on the due date. The thing was in my notes, as my birthday was my due date, I wasn't technically a mother over 40 so I wasn't on the radar- it was wonderful, no one mentioned it even though I knew!

My first was + 3days so I thought this baby might be late. I opted not to have a sweep at my 40 weeks check-up (age wasn't mentioned - think the midwife for to check even though I was then 40 years + 1 day old), I waited until the next week, had a sweep on Thursday and whilst chatting things through with the midwife she said they would give it 24-48 hours to see how things went, then maybe another sweep etc etc 'after all there is no need to hurry things along really, is there?' at which point I piped up (as I was well ready to meet my baby by now) 'except that I am over 40 now'. Cue *WHAT* from the community midwife, frantic rustling of papers, date checking, apologising that she hadn't noticed previously etc, one call to the on-call registrar at SDH and I was booked in for an induction the next day at 8 am!

In the end, it was quite relaxed as I queried with the ward if they needed me at 8 am on the dot as I had to take my little boy to nursery etc and they were easy on the time. I arrived and was monitored at around 9.30 am, they broke my waters (ARM) at 11 am and the whole delivery, including the third stage was all over by 12.40 pm. No gel or drip is needed. This was as the community midwife had predicted as my baby was so well engaged.

My first baby was delivered within 14 minutes of arriving at the hospital as I had laboured so successfully at home (in the bath mainly). So this time although the ARM was clinical and unpleasant and I was uncertain of myself throughout a lot of the labour I was pleased to be in the hospital from the start so there was no mad rush to get there like last time. The Kenya yoga and pregnancy yoga I had practised helped a lot as did the hypnobirthing. I listened with headphones to your CDs and visualisations for the first stage of labour throughout, except for the actual ARM and the stitches afterwards (I had a tear, like with my first baby) when I listened to my yoga teachers' recommended playlist and the one we had used in class ('happy tunes' - to help take me to a 'happy place!!).

The Hypno CDs really helped when I was on my back on the bed being monitored, I was sure I was having contractions already from the sweep and it was uncomfortable being prone on my back. Then again once the ARM had happened, they monitored me again (although I was allowed to sit on a birthing ball) so my movements were restricted, and I was sure the contractions were more intense, all very uncomfortable. I used my TENS machine - useful as a distraction as well as pain relief.

I was grateful for anything that gave me some sense of grounding and control as the labour pains were not like those first-time rounds that had come on naturally. I had no idea 'where I was on the labour journey and how far I had to go. The midwives didn't either as I was so calm and quiet.

We talked about aromatherapy just after the ARM and I requested a pool room and some aromatherapy oils. They went away (I was left with a student midwife onward while the other midwife checked on someone on postnatal) and I got in the bath in the small labour room we had to relieve the pain I was in, no drugs were forthcoming (I'd asked for paracetamol), no mention of being moved, so I had 2 of my own paracetamol and we asked for the pool room, contractions had been every minute since the ARM and were maybe every 5-10 mins before that. Got out of the pool in between contractions and shuffled with TENS to the pool room.

As soon as I got to the pool room I felt a lot calmer, it was lovely and spacious and light and airy, pool filling commenced but before it was even halfway, I started doing some gentle yoga swaying and I felt I needed to push. The student had been going to get towels but turned round to see me moaning (apparently I was standing by the window, leaning on the windowsill with my legs crossed!). Afterwards, she said that at that moment she just had a very strong feeling that the baby was coming and she shouldn't leave me, so she pressed a buzzer for someone else to bring bedding and towels. She helped me to the bed to examine me and 2 pushes later (and a second-degree tear) Cleo was out! A relieved and surprised midwife, mummy and daddy.

The other midwife said later that she was walking back from postnatal thinking 'yes, we must get that aromatherapy for my lady now' when she heard a baby crying and thought 'noooo, I can't have missed it?' but she had. My student midwife was just 3 weeks off qualifying and absolutely fabulous throughout.

Overall a very positive induction experience. I hated how clinical it was, but with hindsight, it was a great way and outcome as I wasn't worried about my little boy as I had arranged nursery for him all day and his grandparents to collect him, which meant I could concentrate, with my husband, on the birth.

Thanks,

Catherine

Congratuations to Nicky and Richard on the birth of their daughter Isobel in August using hypnobirthing techniques in Salisbury

Fri, 21 Nov 2014 00:00:00 +0000

The Hypnosis for Childbirth course significantly helped me before, during and after the birth. We are now the proud parents of a very relaxed and contented little girl.

As my induction day was fast approaching I started feeling apprehensive and worried. This became worse as my Consultant told us that I was unable to have a water birth and that I needed to be monitored throughout the birth. My apprehension was also increased as I rarely felt the baby kicking and on one occasion the midwife sent me straight to the hospital as she was unable to find the baby's heartbeat.

We were then introduced to Sharon on a Hypno Birthing introduction night. During that session I relaxed completely and as I relaxed I felt the baby move. The evening was so positive that we signed up immediately for the course, it was the best thing in respect of the birth we could have done. The courses were brilliant and the CDs helped me to relax up to and including the day of the induction.

Due to the information and techniques, we learnt in the Hypnosis for Childbirth course and the CDs both my birth partner and I were able to enjoy the birth. The hypnobirthing installed confidence in me that I could do it. It also reminded us to enjoy ourselves. The course also gave my birth partner confidence about his role. I was induced Monday morning and delivered Baby Isobel safely 6 pm the next evening. I had over 24 hours of contractions. By relaxing and breathing correctly I was able to deliver Isobel with just the use of the Tens Machine and Gas and Air. Both my birth partner and I really enjoyed the whole experience and both agree that it was the hypnobirthing that significantly contributed to this enjoyment. We were able to relax and enjoy the whole experience, right from walking around the hospital during the early stages to inducing the labour to take the first photos of the baby.

The hypnobirthing CDs also helped after the birth. I was having problems sleeping and relaxing once we got Isobel home. My Midwife recommended that I listened to the HypnoBirthing CDs. These helped significantly and as soon as I heard Sharon's voice on the CDs I was able to relax again and since then have been able to sleep much better.

Both my birth partner and I would like to thank Sharon very much for helping us enjoy the birthing experience so much and for ensuring that the birth was so special and gave us happy memories that we can treasure for the rest of our lives.

NHS guidance from National Institute for Health and Care Excellence urges low-risk pregnant women to avoid hospital births

Wed, 03 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Women with low-risk pregnancies are to be encouraged to have non-hospital births under new NHS guidelines, which could see almost half of mothers-to-be planning to deliver their babies away from traditional labour wards.

Guidance from National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) says that midwife-led care has been shown to be safer for women and recommends that all women with low-risk pregnancies – 45% of the total – should be advised that giving birth in a midwifery-led unit, whether attached to a hospital or not, is “particularly suitable”.

The changes, published on Wednesday, have been made because women who give birth under midwife-led care have less chance of being asked to undergo medical interventions such as episiotomies, caesareans and the use of forceps or ventouse.

Susan Bewley, professor of complex obstetrics at King’s College, London, and chair of the Nice advisory group added that infections were more common in hospital wards.

“We’re supporting an individual calm conversation about what is right for each individual in her circumstances,” Bewley said. “They may choose any birth setting and they should be supported in those choices as that’s their right.”

The NHS body also advised midwives not to clamp and cut a baby’s umbilical cord until at least a minute after birth in the absence of complications, and generally within five minutes.

The announcement reverses decades of NHS policy and its own advice from 2007 recommending “early clamping and cutting of the cord”.

Research suggests that early clamping and cutting may leave newborn babies deprived of vital blood from the placenta, risking anaemia.

In separate guidance on postnatal care, Nice said parents should also be informed about the association between falling asleep with their baby on a bed, sofa or chair and sudden infant death syndrome until the baby is 12 months old.

The change represents another significant change to the guidelines, issued in 2006, which only applied to babies up to the age of six to eight weeks. Parents should also be informed that the association may be greater if parents use drugs or have recently drunk alcohol, or if the baby was of low birth weight or premature.

Nine out of 10 of the 700,000 babies born in England and Wales each year are currently delivered in hospitals under the supervision of obstetricians. Nice added that commissioners should ensure that women have all four possible options for giving birth available to them: hospital care, midwifery units in hospitals, midwifery units based in the community and at home.

Professor Mark Baker, Nice’s clinical practice director, said: “It’s very difficult to explain why this is happening but the closer you are to the hospital, and indeed if you are in the hospital, the more likely you are to receive hospital care and surgical interventions.

“Surgical interventions can be very costly, so midwifery-led care is value for money while putting the mother in control and delivering healthy babies.”

The outcome for the baby is the same in different settings except in the case of first-time mothers giving birth at home, where there is a “small increase” in the risk of serious complications – nine in every 1,000 compared with five in every 1,000 in the other settings – which the guidance says mothers should be advised about. Home births are the cheapest, followed by midwife-led units and then hospitals but Bewley said costs did not come into the equation.

Cathy Warwick, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), said: “For low-risk women, giving birth in a midwife-led unit or at home is safe and reduces medical interventions.

“We hope this will focus commissioners’ and providers’ of maternity services attention on ensuring that women have a real choice about where they give birth.”

The RCM has been campaigning for about 5,000 extra midwives to be recruited. Warwick said the new guidance would not stretch existing medical staff further but ensure they were better employed, as more women would have births without interventions, which require more resources.

Elizabeth Duff, the senior policy adviser for the NCT (National Childbirth Trust), welcomed the advice and urged the NHS to “put these guidelines into practice as soon as possible and make home and community birth, a real, not just theoretical, option”.

Community midwife units have lower medical intervention rates and rates of transfer to obstetric wards than those in hospitals but many have been closing recently. For women not giving birth for the first time also have a lower rate of transfer to an obstetric ward than mothers who planned to give birth at home.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/dec/03/low-risk-pregnant-women-urged-avoid-hospital-births

Congratulations to Emily and Ben on the birth of their baby daughter Beatrice Olive on 15th December using hypnobirthing techniques in Salisbury

Mon, 26 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Hi Sharon,

I wanted to thank you for introducing us to hypnobirthing, it all worked perfectly for me and gave me the birth I wanted. It kept me very calm when I was going well overdue and was threatened with induction, but thankfully I gave birth naturally to Beatrice Olive on 15th Dec, 13 days overdue and had a lovely birth in the pool at Salisbury hospital using only my hypnobirthing for pain relief. It worked wonders and I found the contractions very manageable by breathing through them. The midwives were quite surprised at how far advanced I was in labour as I was so in control and calm. I am currently telling all my pregnant friends about hypnobirthing and how amazing childbirth actually is.

Very positive, I managed the contractions very well listening to my hypnobirthing CDs even though the labour ward was too busy to accommodate me and the environment in the waiting ward was not optimal, I focused on all the tricks I learnt in the class. When the baby came out in the pool it was one of the most amazing experiences and I was so happy I hadn't had any pain relief to mask those feelings, I really feel it has helped me bond with my gorgeous baby. Childbirth was so much easier/calmer than I had been led to believe by friends and relatives, but I always believed I could do it naturally and decided to block out any negative stories.

Congratulations to Louise on the birth of their baby daughter Freya on 15th January using hypnobirthing techniques in Salisbury

Wed, 04 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Dear Sharon,
I just wanted to write and thank you for empowering me to go ahead and have my second successful natural birth. My baby daughter Freya was born on 15/1/15 weighing 7lb 8oz. Although overdue, my contractions started with gusto at 11 am and she made her entry into the world at 14.40! I had some real concerns due to my first labour being a forceps delivery, but you enabled me to go ahead and find my inner strength, whilst keeping cool, calm and collected! The power of hypnobirthing is truly amazing, thank you!

Best wishes,

Louise

Congratulations to Vey and Ben on the birth of their baby Flora on 15th February with Hypnobirthing at Salisbury District Hospital

Tue, 24 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0000

The actual birth was amazing, listening to you with lights dimmed - it was so controlled and really one of the best experiences ever.

Congratulations to Amanda and James on the birth of their baby daughter Isabella Jane on 22nd March with hypnobirthing at Salisbury District Hospital

Thu, 02 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Isabella Jane Iles was born on Sunday 22nd March at 2.03 pm weighing 7lb 1oz. Sorry for not letting you know sooner but the past couple of weeks have been a little dramatic and busy!

Sadly the birth was far from the water birth that I would have ordered, but luckily I had kept an open mind and had not set my heart on it.

Everyone complimented me on how calm I stayed throughout my stay in the hospital (obviously they knew about my anxiety from my notes) although internally there were several moments of real anxiety. Although I could not describe it as a hypnobirth, I did use the techniques and really think it helped keep me as calm as I was.

Congratulations to Sarah on the birth of her baby daughter Freya Arwen Hope on 24th March at Salisbury District Hospital with hypnobirthing

Thu, 02 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Sharon

I'd like you to meet my little miracle.....

Freya Arwen Hope Downes - born 24/03/15 at 5am on the dot 7lbs exactly in Salisbury hospital. Sharon, thanks once again for the hypnobirthing...very much used with the birth of this little one.
The birth didn't exactly go to plan (at all) but thankfully I was able to keep calm and when lost my focus, I was able to get back to my calm place fast.

Congratulations to Louise and Mark on the birth of their baby daughter Mia at Salisbury District Hospital on 16th April 2015

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Hi Sharon, I just wanted to let you know that baby Mia arrived last Thursday weighing in at just under 10lb. I'm amazed how calm I felt during labour & had the kind of experience I was hoping for. Thank you for all your help-it was as if you were in the room at times!!!

Best wishes, Louise and Mark

Congratulations to Luci and Colin on the birth of their baby boy Rowan using hypnobirthing at Salisbury District Hospital on 24th April 2015

Sun, 26 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000

We just wanted to let you know about the safe arrival of our beautiful
little boy Rowan. He was born last Friday at home, and weighed 8lb
4oz.

We very happily managed to repeat the serene water birth we had with
our daughter Seren, three and a half years ago. I have no doubt that
hypnobirthing played a huge part in enabling this and we are so very
grateful to you. It was also a much much quicker labour than with
Seren and for that I am very appreciative!

Rowan is completely chilled out, feeding well and we are all on cloud
nine. I'm sure when colin goes back to work life will get a lot more
hectic but maybe I will just use my hypnobirthing techniques to help
me stay calm then!

Of course I will be recommending you far and wide and hope that you
can continue the fantastic work you do for many years to come.

With heartfelt thanks

Luci, Colin, Seren and Rowan xxx

Women deliver babies, not doctors!

Thu, 30 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Friday, Apr 24 2015 WRITTEN BY Best Daily Milli Hill explores the birth stereotypes that ought to be history

With the birth of the royal baby imminent, I can't help but reflect on the two years that have gone by since the birth of Kate and William's first child, Prince George. Some of you may know that it was the scathing attitudes of the press to her plans for a natural birth in Kate's last pregnancy that landed me my current job as a columnist for Best. I wrote an observational piece 'Is Kate being bullied about her birth?', in which I wondered why the world was so quick to pour scorn on the idea that birth can be done naturally – or even – shock horror – be a positive experience.

The article went viral – a sure sign that I'd hit a nerve. I'd like to think that it challenged some attitudes, but of course, I can't take all the credit. It was Kate herself, who in her very English and understated way, held up a victory V to her critics when she emerged from the Lindo wing looking the picture of health and happiness – it certainly seemed like she'd had a brilliant birth. She even dared to challenge another outdated and sexist stereotype by allowing a little silhouette of her post-baby body to be visible, instantly getting the world talking about the reality of birth and motherhood.

I think that in two years, the world has made some real progress when it comes to attitudes to birth. In fact, I'm not sure I've seen anyone – in the press at least - sniggering about natural birth plans since, and it seems to be more common for celebrities to talk about everything from water birth to doulas to placenta encapsulation without being completely derided.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. There are still a few stinkers out there. So in honour of the next Royal baby, let's make a little list…

"The baby will be delivered by a team of doctors"
This phrase has been in many reports on the royal birth but it's not just about the royal birth. In fact, you often see news stories of babies who were 'delivered by a team of paramedics' because mum didn't make it to the hospital on time. Oh sure, these are just words, but the iceberg that lies beneath them is all about the true nature of childbirth – is it something that women do? Or something that other people do to her or for her?

If we must use the word delivered at all – because surely it's more suitable for pizzas than babies – then it's Kate who'll do the delivering. And as for the team of doctors, well let's hope they're down the hall reading a bit of Kitzinger or playing Sudoku, while the midwives make crocheted crowns in the corner of a darkened birth room, and the baby emerges calmly into royal hands.

The bed
Whilst the Lindo wing might have room service and champagne on ice, from the photos it looks like it's not a million miles from your average delivery room.

Here's hoping that Kate has had the bed moved to the side and had a luxury birth pool, yoga balls and mats and maybe a comfy chair or two placed centre stage, because surely, in the 21st century, we need to consign the idea that birth takes place on a bed to the history books?

It was after all rumoured to be another royal, King Louis XIV, who started the trend of women lying down to give birth. He wanted to watch so instructed his mistress to get on the bed while he hid behind a screen. The doctors apparently loved it too as it made their lives easier, a royal trend caught on, and the rest is history.

Being on the bed turns labouring women into 'patients', makes it harder for babies to get out, makes labour longer, more painful, and more likely to end in intervention. It might have worked for King Louis, but surely, three hundred years later, it's time to move on?

Babies go ding when they're done like microwave dinners
Just like the last royal baby, there's been a real press panic about the actual actual ACTUAL due date. There's seems to be a really genuine conviction that babies pop out suddenly and without warning on the precise day you'd been roughly expecting them to. If dad's planning on going to a polo match or popping out for a pint of milk, he'd better not do it on the due date, or he'll certainly MISS THE BIRTH!!!

In reality, babies don't tend to come flying out before you've even managed to take your tights off. The majority of women get plenty of warning, and labour can begin with little niggles then develop slowly over hours or even days. And as for the due date – only about 5% of babies arrive on it – the rest are 'early' or 'late'. Unfortunately the due date myth can put a lot of rather toxic pressure on heavily pregnant women, and many end up being induced just a few days later. It was interesting recently to see this Horizon documentary on induction from 1975 – and it leaves you wondering, how will we feel about post-dates induction and what will the policy be when the William or even George is on the throne?

You are allowed
We can only speculate about how much freedom Kate has in her birth choices, but let's hope it's at least as much or more than the average UK woman, who can be heard, all too often, to utter phrases like, "They let me…" or, "I was not allowed…" We are still in a rather nightmarish twilight zone between the 'doctor-knows-best' 70's and the Future, in which women – not often known for taking it lying down – are sometimes completely unaware that they have the right to say no.

Yes – you heard it here first, whether it's induction, or a V.E, or a sweep: you are 'allowed' to accept or decline any procedure: it is your body, your baby, your choice.

Perhaps this attitude that labouring women must just lie back and think of England is a throwback to the days when the Queen was seen as merely a vessel for providing a healthy heir, so much so that if, like Anne Boleyn, she didn't - she was considered entirely disposable.

Whatever the reason, it's time for consent in birth – along with the dignity and respectful care that naturally accompany it – to be placed much higher on everyone's agenda.

The birth of Kate and William's baby will soon make history: it will be interesting to see what history will make of the way Kate – and all of us – birth (not deliver) our babies.

BestDaily columnist Milli Hill is the founder of The Positive Birth Movement. Her latest book is available on Amazon.

http://www.bestdaily.co.uk/your-life/news/a643866/women-deliver-babies-not-doctors.html

easibirthing method in Portugal

Thu, 07 May 2015 00:00:00 +0000

In April 2015, Sharon Mustard took the easibirthing®method to Lisbon in Portugal. 24 enthusiastic hypnotherapists are the first to introduce easibirthing® to Portuguese women to empower them to have a safer, easier and more comfortable birth. We anticipate the alliance with Portugal will continue well into the future and the easibirthing® training will be welcoming many more hypnotherapists there in the coming years. Thank you to the AHCP - Associação de Hipnose Clínica de Portugal for inviting me and making me so welcome. Special thanks to Rusa ans Susana who were excellent translators. Below is the AHCP's evaluation of the training:

It is with great satisfaction that the Ahcp announces the formation of the first 24 hipnoterapêutas in the easibirthing®. method in this international training. Having this pioneered in Portugal, makes it possible to prepare pregnant women by using techniques such as self-hypnosis, relaxation and visualisation, so that these allow a natural birth to become your reality, being a partner to nature.

Whether you have your baby at home or in hospital, pregnant women have the right to make informed choices as to how to prepare and what kind of medical interventions (use of epidural, for example) you with to agree to.

This is a technique extremely beneficial for those who wish to remain calm and in control during the process of childbirth (natural or cesarean section), also having benefits for mother and child after the birth.

To all those involved our congratulations! Success!!

Congratulations to Laura and Tim on the birth of their baby boy Toby using hypnobirthing at Salisbury District Hospital in May 2015

Tue, 02 Jun 2015 00:00:00 +0000

It was magical. We felt in control and very calm throughout. We were focused on meeting our baby and were able to concentrate on supporting each other.

Congratulations to Tora and Peter on the birth of their baby son Wilbur on 19th June at Salisbury District Hospital using hypnobirthing techniques

Thu, 02 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Hi Sharon

Wilbur Snell was born on 19th June at 20:39 by C-section. All went very well and the team at Salisbury were faultless, they made the whole experience simple and stress free, we were very lucky to be in such good hands.

The surgeon who delivered Wilbur said my uterus was significantly bi-cornate and unlikely we would have turned him.

It all turned out well in the end and we have a very content, happy and healthy little boy who is a dream to look after and lets us get some sleep at night which is a bonus!

Your hypno birthing techniques came in useful at various occasions, particularly when we found out is was going to be a planned section and all I wanted was a homebirth - used the anchoring and found that helped me keep a grip on it all.

Fingers crossed that child number 2 is more obliging when it comes to delivery!

Michel Odent on BBC breakfast talking about enabling women to give birth

Thu, 09 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Michel Odent, a pioneer in changing how we think about birth, talking on BBC Breakfast this morning at 8.59 about how we can enable women to believe in their power to give birth. He is calling for a change in the way we think about having babies. Our culture has been telling us for thousands of years that we are not capable of the process of giving birth and subsequently we have lost confidence in our bodies. Many scientific disciplines, like epigenetics, are now proving that the period of birth is critical in the formation of human beings. As a result of the focus on medical intervention, a women's basic needs at this crucial time are in danger of not being met. They are the fundamental needs of protection, security, and the ability to switch off the neocortex (the thinking brain). easibirthing seeks to give women and couples back their confidence.

Congratulations to Katja and Toby on the birth of their baby son Roscoe York at Salisbury District Hospital using hypnobirthing techniques

Tue, 18 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000

6 days after our due date the contractions started at 12 am on a Monday night, they carried on an got stronger and to help I had a TENS machine.

This was followed with a couple of visits to the labour ward to see how things were progressing - to our frustration progressing but very slowly.

I was only 1 cm dilated after 12 hours of contractions so we went back home.

After 48 hours of contractions and pretty much no sleep we went back to the labour ward at 12 am Wednesday night to get an injection of diamorphine to help me sleep since we knew that things would kick off in the next 24 hours.

Ideally I didn't want any pain relief except gas and air but we were getting concerned how I would cope with the actual birth with no sleep and thought that it would wear off in time so that we could have a water birth as hoped for.

When we arrived at the hospital I was only 4-5 cm dilated... We didn't bring any of our bags in since we only thought I'd get the injection, sleep and probably go back home again.

The midwife went off to get the diamorhine, gave me some gas and air in the mean time. On the first puff it felt like a water balloon exploded and that was my waters breaking :)

At this point I no longer wanted the injection since things were now going to speed along quicker.

Luckily we were in the last pool room , the labour ward was really busy that night , so the midwife started filling up the pool.

With all of our bags being in the car luckily my husband brought my phone which had the hypnobirth tracks.

I asked him to put on track 3 on repeat - I'd been listening to that one a lot the last few days leading up to labour and found that one extremely helpful.

As soon as I was in the pool i felt like pushing and the midwife pretty much left me to it observing from the other side of the pool.

I had my husband next to me holding the gas and air and he did say afterwards how fascinating it was to watch me just focusing on the hypnosis track, that i was properly in the zone.

Less than 2 hours of pushing, at 2.43 am on the Thursday morning, our healthy baby boy Roscoe York was born :)

Even though I had a long labour I was determined to have a water birth with the help of hypnosis and gas and air.

I honestly believe that this probably wouldn't have been as easy if I had not done the course and continued the hypnosis afterwards.

I have also completed the feedback below.

Many thanks Sharon :-)

Kats & Toby

Fearne Cotton opens up about hypnobirthing IT WAS THE BEST EXPERIENCE EVER

Thu, 17 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Fearne Cotton has opened up about her ‘natural and drug-free’ birth experience with baby girl Honey Krissy

Fearne Cotton, 34, and her rocker husband Jesse Wood welcomed their second child on 9th September.

Taking to Twitter, the radio DJ and TV presenter shared her happy news with fans, writing: “Jesse and I are over the moon and buzzing with love, as our baby daughter Honey Krissy Wood came into the world this morning.”

And now the normally private mum has opened up about her ‘euphoric’ hypnobirthing experience on Facebook.

Fearne, also a mum to two-year-old son Rex, wrote: "Love my yes mum cards from @theyesmummum who brilliantly guided me through hypnobirthing before my big day.

“Having a natural, pain relief free birth was the most intense and euphoric experience ever."

Read all about her story and how easibirthing hypnosis for childbirth can help you have an easy, safer and more comfortable birth like Fearne.

http://www.closeronline.co.uk/2015/09/fearne-cotton-opens-up-about-hypnobirthing-it-was-the-best-experience-ever

easibirthing teaching hypnobirthing in Leicester to other hypnotherapists

Tue, 22 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000

easibirthing have just held another successful Hypnosis for Childbirth ( hypnobirthing ) practitioners course, this time in Leicester. The course is open to practicing/student Hypnotherapists who wish to specialise in this area. I want to thank you for for your professionalism, engagement, and valuable contributions. Welcome to the world of empowering couples have an easier safer and more comfortable childbirth experience using hypnosis.

Congratulations to Izzie and Ben on the birth of their baby son Oliver weighing 8lbs 4oz.

Thu, 08 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Izzie used easibirthing hypnobirthing techniques to welcome Oliver into the world on 5th October.

Congratulations to Lu and Chris on the birth of their baby boy Zachary Benjamin on 3/11/2015 at Salisbury District Hospital using hypnobirthing techniques for a calm hospital birth

Mon, 23 Nov 2015 00:00:00 +0000

I managed to turn my baby from breech position I'm sure thanks to hypno and ball. Everyone commented during the 16 hour labour how calm and controlled my breathing was all thanks to the tools you taught us! I can't thank you enough! My birth plan changed beyond recognition but the hypno was incredible and really got me through. Thanku xx

Congratulations to Kathryn and Trefor on the birth of their baby boy Aaron James on 16th November at Salisbury District Hospital weighing 8lbs 2ozs using hypnobirthing

Mon, 21 Dec 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Congratulations to Kathryn and Trefor on the birth of their baby boy Aaron James on 16th November at Salisbury District Hospital weighing 8lbs 2ozs using hypnobirthing

Congratulations to Isabelle and Julian on the birth of their baby girl Vivienne born at Frome Birthing Centre using hypnobirthing techniques on 17/11/15

Mon, 25 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

I have already recommended it to a number of my expectant mum friends and definitely think it's really an essential part in preparing for the birth process. I think it's a case of not underestimating how much hard work you will need to do but to be fully prepared for it mentally, emotionally as well as physically and to give yourself the confidence to 'tune in' to your birth fully without listening to the external distractions. The in depth course for Easibirthing definitely contributed to this in a noticeable and positive way. It was also a really good way of helping the bond with my husband so that he could fully support me through the process and understand how I wanted to approach the birth. Although he did not do any practicing with me beforehand, the birth was real teamwork and he was rather impressed with how I handled it!:)

Congratulations to Rachel and Alex on the birth of their baby girl Skye on 31st December at Salisbury District Hospital using hypnobirthing

Sun, 31 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Thank you so much for the hypnobirthing course you ran in November. Skye was born on her due date, 31st December, after a relatively easy 4 hour labour. Your techniques have helped so much.

Congratulations to Isabelle and Julian on the birth of their baby girl Vivienne on 17th November at Frome midwife-led unit using hypnobirthing

Sun, 31 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

As this was our second I knew at least what to expect but all the whlie was much calmer and confident throughout which I do believe was due to the breathing techniques learned in the course and practice. My contractions started at 7pmisn at home. I had my audio sessions on headphones and felt I could cope/breathe through the contractions easily. I then had a show about 9pm so thought it was time to go to Frome-a 20min drive from home. On examining me the midwife said I was already 8cm dilated on arrival! Things moved really quickly, with the 2nd stage lasting about 10mins and little Vivi arrived at 10.30pm. I had no drugs or even time to get in the birth pool which I had hoped for as she was born before they could fill it up!

I didn't really use much of the visualisation techniques when it came to it as it all happened so fast, but I did have a better picture in my mind of how things were happening particularly when she was in the birth canal, crowning and head was emerging. It was at this point I managed to keep calm and relax and I'm pretty sure that's how I ended up with no stitches as I wasn't apphrehensive of the strethcing or tearing and I was consciuosly telling myself to 'trust my body' to get on with it and do the right thing. This was something I wasn't able to do with my first birth and probably contributed to having an assisted delivery with forceps.

The whole experience was exhilarating and I was on a totally natural high when she was born. Although we had a really comfortable night stay with a double bed I could not sleep a wink as I was so wired and full of adrenalin, utterly chuffed that it had all gone as well as I could have hoped for and that she was here snuggled in my arms.

I have already reccomended the course to a number of my expectant mum friends and definitely think it is a really essential part of preparing for the birth process. I think it is a case of not underestimating how much hard work you will need to do but to be fully preapred for it mentally, emotionally as well as physically and to give yourself the confidence to 'tune in' to your birth fully without listening to the external distractions. The indepth course for Easibirthing definitely contributed to this in a noticeable and positive way. It was also a really good way of helping the bond with my husband so that he could fully support me through the process and understand how I wanted to approach the birth. Although he did not do any practicing beforehand, the birth was real teamwork and he was rather impressed with how I handled it!

Congratulations to Rachel and Mark on the birth of their baby in Salisbury District Hospital in February 2016

Wed, 02 Mar 2016 00:00:00 +0000

How would you describe your childbirth experience?

Fantastic – it was very intense but it was not at all scary. I could not have asked for a better birth.

All my anxiety surrounding birth completely disappeared and I felt fully in control, working with my baby, so that ultimately meeting her was amazing.

Congratulations to Ellie and Nick on the birth of their baby girl in Salisbury District Hospital on 22nd April 2016

Mon, 25 Apr 2016 00:00:00 +0000

We have some exciting news- baby India Beatrice Windell was born yesterday at 2pm weighing 6lbs14oz.

My waters broke at 4am in the morning, I went in to hospital at 9am & was already 5cm dilated with no pain relief, I then had the injection in my leg to help with pain as my contractions were very strong & she arrived at 2pm. No stitches & she's one healthy baby!!

Thank you for all your help. It was the most relaxing calm experience ever!! Ellie X

Congratulations to Marie and John on the birth of their baby boy in Salisbury District Hospital on 12th August 2016

Thu, 18 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000

I just wanted to let you know that our baby boy Noah was born on 12 Aug, 3 days before due date (and actually the day that is said would be most convenient!). He was 7lb 8oz and is a very content and chilled out baby.

The birth was quite quick, I had some cramping at 16:00, my waters broke at 17:00, felt like I needed to push at 19:00 and he was here at 22:15! I just made it to the hospital to start actively pushing but after 2.5 hours he just wouldn't come round the bend so I had a little help from the vontouse. I managed this and the episiotomy with only a little gas and air but unfortunately still ended up in theatre with an epidural as my contractions stopped as soon as he was born and the placenta wouldn't budge!

Although this wasn't ideal, I was completely calm throughout the whole experience and my midwife gave a lot of praise to this effect. I swear this was down to the hypnobirthing putting me in such a good state of mind, ensuring I was confident and focused on my baby. I'm not a particularly chilled out person but I have been throughout this experience so far and this is probably helping Noah to be so content!

Thank you so much for your help, I'll be in touch for a refresher for next time!

Marie

Congratulations to Kat and Jon on the birth of their baby girl Rose in July 2016 at Salisbury District Hospital using hypnobirthing

Tue, 13 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

After our refresher session I managed to listen to your recordings quite a few times before the due date. On the due date I went for a check up with the midwives who said that I was measuring small (having previously been normal) and should go to the hospital to be checked and scanned to see what was happening. We found out that I had low amniotic fluid and so therefore they recommended I had an induction on the following Monday (it was a Friday). Over the weekend I listened to your recordings, ate lots of curry and did quite a bit of walking to try and get things moving naturally and did feel a few cramps during the nights but nothing major.

On Monday evening at about 5pm we went to the (really busy) labour ward in Salisbury and waited quite a long time to be seen. Despite the noises around me (loud screams etc) I went into a very relaxed state and listened to some music that made me happy. When they examined me they found they were able to pop the waters at about 9 pm to see if they could get things going naturally. They did that and Jon and I went for lots of walks around the hospital but nothing happened so at about 11 pm they recommended putting me on the drip which we did and slowly the contractions started up and sped up pretty quickly! They were pretty powerful and although I wasn't able to be in water or move around very much due to being on the drip and categorised as high risk due to the low amniotic fluid I focused inwardly and on my gas and air. I used various visualisations although it was mostly a blur and concentrated on my outbreath - long and slow. It ramped up and up but I remained calm and felt like I trusted my midwife and thought about the outcome, and continued to focus on the gas and air and my breathing and any instructions I was given. When it came to the pushing bit it was over quite quickly, it was only a few concerted pushes and she was out and on my chest and near perfect. I was so relieved and delighted that she was a healthy baby girl and we decided that all of our previous names didn't suit her - that she should be a Rose.

Once again Sharon, thank you so much for all your help. I really feel like it gave me that extra bit of inner strength and belief I needed. Sorry it's taken this long to respond, today is the first day Rory has been at nursery and I've had a bit of time to myself! I hope all is well, we are thoroughly enjoying getting to know Rose, she is incredibly calm and came out that way and has been like that ever since, cuddly and calm and enjoys sleeping at night, breastfeeding and recovery post birth has all gone brilliantly too this time so we're very lucky! Rory is enjoying his new little sister too.

All the best,

Kat, Jon, Rory and Rose xxx

Congratulations to Emma and John on the birth of their baby girl Olivia-Mae in February 2016 at Salisbury District Hospital using hypnobirthing

Tue, 20 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

From the moment I went into labour I was extremely relaxed, I even sent John to football as I knew it could be a long wait! I found it easier to be by myself initially at home so I could zone out and relax using all the breathing techniques taught at your classes. On arrival at hospital I wasn't dilated but through being relaxed I managed to get myself fully dilated in 2 hours. The hospital said I laboured well and pushed perfectly and if it wasn't for the umbilical cord the 2nd stage would have been a lot quicker. John was very good understanding that I liked the quietness and to let me go into my own world while labouring. I could hear him chatting to the midwife but because I was in my own world it felt like I was in a different room listening through a door.

Congratulations to Jenny and James on the birth of their baby boy Harry on 30th July 2016 at Salisbury District Hospital using hypnobirthing

Wed, 02 Nov 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Absolutely incredible, the most empowering feeling. I have a new found respect for my body and for female strength.
Childbirth is a miracle, I am proud of myself, my body and my baby, we all worked together in harmony and the result was an experience I can look back on and draw strength from.
I feel because I stayed so calm I was able to have a much more straight forward birthing, even when faced with being constantly monitored and sat upright, because of hypno birthing I accepted the situation and felt safe, calm and in control.
Following your experience, would you recommend this course to other mums-to-be? Would you be interested in sharing your experience in the form of a written description/birth story or to other expectant mums and dads-to-be?
Sharon your voice and my breath were my constant companion throughout my labour, my iPod was on constantly during initial stages and the hours melted away, I stayed cool, calm and in control, even when aspects of my birth plan did not go how I imagined I was able to calmly adapt. No screaming, swearing, crying or drama, just me, my husband, my midwife all quietly working together supporting my body. I have Sharon and hypno birthing to thank for building my mental strength throughout my pregnancy and giving me the power to ensure my body and baby had a positive experience.
I would be happy with your instruction to write my birth story and also note the help that hypno birthing gave me throughout my pregnancy as I practiced and went to "labour land" every day prior to being induced it supported me through all my additional scans, monitoring, negative consultant appointments and the endless "what if scenarios" constantly explained at every appointment, the tapes always allowed me to find a safe and calm place to escape to and block the negativity. I have no doubt in my mind that hypno birthing is the key to allowing woman to unlock the negative associations and uncertainties with labour and leaves space to enjoy the miracle that birth truly is.
Thank you so much Sharon, I honestly cannot recommend hypno birthing enough it transforms pregnancy and I would not want to imagine what my labour would of been like if I had not done the course. I attended the course initially to help with my phobia of hospitals, I could never of imagined just how instrumental the tapes would be on my journey to motherhood.
I also know that the course prepared James for childbirth and gave him strength to support me, he stayed so calm, supportive and repeated the word calm throughout contractions and fully added to my positive experience. He ensured my wishes were met and had confidence to ask questions and support me every step of the way.

Congratulations to Emily and George on the birth of their baby boy at home in Salisbury on 5th November using hypnobirthing

Tue, 15 Nov 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Just to say I had a little boy on Saturday 5th November, well not so little as he was 9lbs 5.5oz born at home at 5.35am. Completely unplanned home birth as he came so quickly.

My water broke at 2.30am and had my first strong contraction at 4.45am and he arrived at 5.35am with the paramedics turning up 10 minutes before he was born and only 10puffs of gas and air. I would have to say your class worked wonders on both George and I and being able to manage the pain and keeping relaxed throughout. It was nice that we got to stay at home and didn't have to go into hospital.

Emily

Congratulations to Emma and Jamie on the birth of their baby boy at home in Salisbury on 19th December using hypnobirthing

Wed, 11 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Hi Sharon,

We had our son Rex on 19th December after a 10 hour labour. He was born in the birthing pool at home with no pain relief apart from a tens machine. He scored a 9 at 1 minute on the apgar test and then a 10. Monitoring of his heart rate throughout the birth showed him to be very calm the whole time. I would give a score of 9 for how in control I felt.

I don't think I could have done it without the hypnobirthing - I played the tracks throughout and drew on different visualisations and breathing techniques at different points. The hypnobirthing gave us both confidence and calmness in the birthing process, as well as a better understanding in what was happening and why and how to create an environment to encourage calmness. The midwives were brilliant and just let us get on with it- I even pulled the baby out myself and no stitches required!

I have been telling all my friends to try hypnobirthing as I really believe it changed my whole mindset towards birth and has made me a calmer person in general. Thank you very much for all your help with this! I have also used the hypnobirthing post-birth to help with breastfeeding.

Thanks again Sharon.

All the best,

Emma

Rules for Rows in the Post Natal Period

Fri, 13 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Becoming a parent can be a trying time for any relationship. The time when you would benefit from supporting each other more, is often the time when you focus on looking after yourself when not looking after the baby! As a result of the frustrations, this can threaten to cause arguments and conflict of unprecedented levels.
At easibirthing in Salisbury, we offer support to clients to learn to adjust to their new roles without taking it out on each other.
Following these simple 'rules for rows' will help stop them escalating into something bigger.

Choose the time and place carefully

Both people outline their own needs

Listen carefully to each other’s needs

Stick to the real issue

Avoid dredging up the past, unless it is directly relevant

Be prepared to hear negative emotions

Try not to get defensive

Take time out if things are getting too heated

Respect the other person’s request for time out

No personal attacks or name-calling

Aim for win-win

Admit and take responsibility for mistakes

Work at forgiving

Create your own new ‘rules’ provided both of you are in agreement

A tribute to Chinese New Year... Postpartum traditions in Asia

Thu, 26 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000

This Saturday, celebrations will be held around the world for the beginning of the Chinese New Year.

This time of coming together of communities has made me reflect on how different cultures celebrate the advent of a new baby and becoming new parents. At easibirthing, when supporting new mothers and fathers in the post natal period, many people tell me they feel they didn't have enough time and space to adjust to their now roles and the 'new normal' in those early weeks.

Many cultures have special practices and customs that serve to recognize this very special time in the life of a couple. In many cultures, women are not expected to carry on their usual lives, but are revered and recognized for the new journey they are beginning.

POSTPARTUM TRADITIONS AROUND THE WORLD

In the Indian Ayurvedic tradition, new mothers stay at home and are nurtured for 22 days after birth. This period of rest is considered vital to protect the delicate nervous systems of both mother and infant. Few visitors are allowed, and mother and child are protected from wind and bad weather.

In Japan, a new mother is treated as if she were the baby—she’s put to bed for 30 days, waited on, and indulged while she recuperates from the birth.

In parts of Southeast Asia, a father begins to collect wood during the pregnancy, stacking it in a special place, and reserving it for a practice called “mother-warming.” After the birth, the house is closed up and a sign on the front door announces the new arrival, letting the community know that the new family needs quiet time. The father lights a fire next to or beneath the mother’s bed, and she and the new baby are wrapped in warm blankets. Mother and baby are kept inside this womb-like environment, removed from the demands of daily life, and kept safe from wind and rain for several days or weeks, depending on the culture.

While Western countries do not have ceremonies or rituals quite like these, many do pay special attention to a new mother’s needs, particularly in Europe and Scandinavia.

The postpartum period needs to be treated as a special time, a time when women deserve extra care. Her mind and body are engaging in important work right now, whether or not she is consciously aware of it.

Helping our children develop positive emotional and mental health

Wed, 26 Apr 2017 00:00:00 +0000

An interview with Stephen Conway Live regarding the mental health of children for all new and existing parents out there to help them be 'good enough' parents and how to best help our children when they are reacting to life.

Watch the interview below and learn how to best help your child become emotionally resilient.

Congratulations to Maria and Paul on the birth of their baby son at their home in Salisbury using hypnobirthing techniques

Sun, 21 May 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Hi Sharon,

Just to let you know we had our son at home on Wednesday 17th May at 21.15. Paul Lewis said it was the most beautiful and serene birth he had ever been to in all his 37 years. :)

We are all doing fine.

Thank you so much for your course. It was a combination of your mp3's and comments from friends that got me through labour so calmly.

Many, many thanks,

Maria & Paul xx

The role of your birth partner when you are in labour and giving birth

Wed, 07 Jun 2017 00:00:00 +0000

1. Be your voice

Sometimes you're too busy with the actual business of giving birth to be able to communicate your wishes to the medical team supporting you. Make sure your birth partner is familiar with your birth preferences so they can speak up if you're otherwise engaged.

2. Help with the equipment
There is quite a lot of kit in a delivery room, so whether it's the gas and air or the birthing ball make sure your birth partner knows how these things are used so they can help you with them.

3. Be informed
Things can move fast during your baby's birth, so make sure your birth partner is fully briefed on the mechanics of labour and birth. If options are suddenly needed such as assisted delivery or caesarean, they should know what these terms mean-and what your feelings on them are too.

4. Be your personal masseur
A back rub, a foot massage or a head massage can all help release a special brand of endorphins which will help with the sensations of labour. They can practice these in pregnancy as well as during birth!

5. Be a comforter
From helping with breathing techniques to calming you, your birth partner is there to provide emotional as well as practical support. Joining a hypnobirthing course can help both of you build your confidence in working together to achieve a positive birth.

6. Be entertaining
Keeping you amused and entertained during labour is a great gift. Make sure your birth partner has books and magazines for you to read or have them bring a tablet or a laptop-and don't forget the charger!

7. Be the photographer
Discuss beforehand how much of the birth you feel comfortable sharing. Once you have agreed the ground rules, your birth partner can document the labour and birth with photos or video. Even if only you two ever see them, it is a wonderful moment to look back on.

8. Step up
Cutting the cord is something you might want your birth partner to do. You may also want them to be the first person to hold your newborn. These are great moments.

9. Be the announcer
Once your baby has ben born, your birth partner can be the one to phone close family and friends to tell them the happy news.

10. Be the runner
If you decide not to have visitors for a few days and just enjoy your baby, your birth partner can be the one to dash out for anything you need/want. Building your relationship with your baby in the early hours and days is your priority!

For both of you to feel empowered in the birth experience, find out more about our range of hypnobirthing courses

Congratulations to Sarah and Josh on the birth of their baby at their home in Salisbury using hypnobirthing techniques

Tue, 05 Sep 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Josh and I had a great experience and managed a rather quick labour and short stay in hospital, everything we wanted out of the experience. The baby was a bit shocked by the speed but was fine after a little help from the midwives. We are all home and settling into life as a little family. I wholly thank the hypnobirthing sessions that you delivered to get me into the right mindset to do it naturally and believe in myself. I managed to do it with 2 paracetamol!!

Thanks Sharon!!

Sarah

Congratulations to Charlotte and Luke on the birth of baby Arlo at Salisbury District Hospital using hypnobirthing

Thu, 02 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Baby Arlo, born Tuesday 31st October @ 9:02am. Unfortunately I had to be induced but I couldn’t have asked for a more amazing experience & I put this down to hypnobirthing!!!! I managed to have a water birth with just gas & air & a 4 hour labour. I used the techniques from start to finish & when I wasn’t able to focus Luke was right on hand with the positive affirmations. I can’t thank you enough!!!!!

Congratulations to Anna and Simon on the birth of baby Arthur on 15th March at Salisbury District Hospital using hypnobirthing

Mon, 26 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Hi Sharon,

Just to let you know that Arthur Michael arrived on 15th March weighing 7lbs 6ozs. He was exactly 2 weeks late (!) and I was booked for induction at SDH on the 15th. I went into labour naturally at midnight on the 14th (I think he knew what was going to happen!!) but due to being booked in already I had to go to the hospital for checks. While Arthur was perfectly happy and things were progressing slowly there was a bit of a cloud around when my waters had broken as I hadn't had anything noticeable and the midwife could feel no waters round his head, only his hair. And then I said it could have been weeks ago as I did wonder if I had been losing some fluid. So while I had ideas about what I would like to happen it was taken out of my hands and I had to have the Syntocin drip to speed him along.

Despite this I felt perfectly well informed, I used my Cartesian questions while discussing the plan with the Consultant and then with the midwives but also understood the urgency of the situation. The labour time in total was 18 hours as he started at midnight Weds 14th and he arrived at 18.31 on the 15th. This is the good bit though, despite contractions being the most painful thing I have ever felt, I had a few hours of no pain relief, then a few hours of Entonox. What was really interesting though is that on the heart monitors Arthur was very happy and relaxed all the way through and my blood pressure was as low as it has been all through my pregnancy. At about 5pm I said I had the urge to push into the contractions instead of breathe through them and the midwives I had said if that was the case then I could begin the delivery process. My body completely took over. So I had some morphine to take the edge off as my cervix wasn't quite dilated fully but I wanted to go with how I felt. I then took the advice from the midwives and what my body wanted to do. I had natural pauses and worked with it and he was delivered perfectly healthy and I had no tears or stitches. Not even a graze! So I was up and out of bed in an hour and spent the night on Post Natal for obs. Arthur was the quietest and most content baby (I thought it was due to the small amount of morphine) but he has continued to be a very happy and content baby. The midwives are astounded by him! He settles perfectly and also soothes himself, most of the time I don't even know he's there. He's just so relaxed.

His APGAR score at birth was 9 and rose to 10 after 5 minutes.

While I didn't use the hypnosis to its full effect I feel that what I learned on the course and keeping calm and informed really helped and I trusted my midwives. I've felt really good since and have recovered well, so coping fine with the interrupted sleep. He only wakes twice a night to feed and change so I really do have an angel baby. Simon was also present the whole time and when I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere he used my anchor and it got me back and focused. I honestly feel it couldn't have gone better, despite the induction.

My anchor was Mile 18 of the London Marathon. All the time I was running my aim was just to finish. When I got to Mile 18 it was the point I knew that I would finish (as people say if you can run 18 miles you can run 26!) and achieve a lifelong dream, so when Simon said Mile 18 I was right back at that feeling of euphoria knowing I could do it. And then I knew that I would be able to deliver Arthur safely.

So thank you very much for your course and your knowledge and insight. I fully believe it works and it has contributed to my very happy, robustly healthy and beautiful baby.

With love and best wishes,

Anna xxxx

Congratulations to Jess and Nick on the birth of baby James on 7th May at Salisbury District Hospital using hypnobirthing

Thu, 10 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Just to let you know that baby James was born 7 May at 0823hrs at Salisbury Hospital at 39.5wks and weighed 9lbs. I was in early labour with a back to back baby for 5 days before and I swear giving birth was easier than putting up with the back pain contractions beforehand! The hypnobirthing definitely helped my breathing on the day and baby naturally turned when I got into positions. I was lucky enough to get a pool and just needed a bit of gas and air on the day. My baby’s heart rate was throughout the birth and remains so calm and I think it’s because I had no fear about giving birth, I knew anatomically what was happening and I knew I needed to stay focused and calm. It paid off as I only needed a few superficial stitches and I’ve been out and about with the pram already so healing well.

Just wanted to thank you again for the course - I tell everyone I meet about you and the benefits of hypnobirthing.

Congratulations to Jo and Chris on the birth of their baby using hypnobirthing for a home birth

Mon, 24 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Absolutely amazing.

Baby was born at home, on the sofa.

I LOVED the whole experience!

Why hypnobirthing is becoming increasing population the UK. Harry and Meghan join the growing clan.

Thu, 02 May 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Royal baby 2019: the GQ birthing guide

Olivia Cole

4 days ago

PA Photos

With Harry and Meghan's royal arrival due any day, here is the GQ guide to being the perfect birth partner

If you’ve so much as glanced at a newspaper you’ll know that the Duchess of Sussex is planning a royal baby with a difference. To judge from some of the hysterical headlines you might think @sussexroyal had Instagrammed their birth plan (they haven’t and nor should you) but we do know it’s an HRH arrival with a difference: no press call with an hours-old baby, a female team in place of the Queen’s eminent male obstetricians, rumours of a home birth in Windsor, and the couple are reportedly practicing hypnobirthing techniques. “Harry and Meghan are ‘hypno’ what?”

Hypnobirthing has nothing to do with hypnotising each other. The hypno part is about the woman putting an effective kind of spell on herself – through her environment, music, scents, yoga breathing and relaxation techniques. Your job is to help not hinder and to get on board with whatever your partner has decided. My husband had never done a sun salutation in his life but spent a day in a yoga studio learning basic breath work and active birth, and to my astonishment put his lawyer's photographic memory to use remembering the visualisation techniques. So as Harry steps up, how can you be the perfect supportive woke birth partner? Here’s GQ’s guide:

Meghan’s love of yoga is well known, her mother Dora is a qualified yoga teacher and so it’s no surprise she’s all about female-led active birth. In order to give birth, a woman needs to release a hormone called oxytocin. The presence of a man (whether a top doctor or even you) can slow down this release and hence make labour longer. So do be accepting if your partner opts for her sister/mother/friend or wants them there as well.

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If your partner is about affirmations, active birth and yoga breathing, learn the techniques so that you are speaking the same language. DO learn some supposedly pain-relieving massage techniques but don’t be offended if in the moment they elicit a "don’t touch me" rather than an "mmm, thank you darling".

DO be supportive, DON'T be zealous. No one wants to be with the guy who says, “We are hypnobirthing.” Maybe you are, but "pain is a social contruct" only for as long as she says that that’s what’s happening. (Having a wish for your baby to be brought in the world drug-free is not a thing, until there’s some science to let men give birth when, of course, it will be their call on how it should all go...)

DON'T say, "I’m going to kill this woman with her golden light and rainbow fish," when you hear the hypnobirthing tracks for the millionth time. Listened to upwards of 25 times, these relaxation CDs or downloads genuinely work, and when it starts playing in the hospital you may well be pleasantly surprised and find yourself pleased to hear it too.

DO learn more on a reputable one-day course. GQ recommends pioneer in the field Lolly Stirk, who teaches pregnancy yoga at Tryoga and is also brilliant with fathers to be. Her students have included Emma Freud and your correspondent.

DO be an advocate – you need to know exactly what her ideal scenario and worst nightmare is without having to check. However it went, no birth is "easy" (even if she made it look that way). DO say she was a marathon runner, a goddess, amazing. Never miss an opportunity to say so, and some of the more memorable details can happily stay between you forever.

DO encourage organised bag packing – a beautifully packed bag by the door even weeks early might seem a scary sight, but in fact it’s the opposite. You can both stop panicking about, "What if the baby comes?" in the night. If there’s never a good time to say, "Are we really taking all that?" then this is the worst. You’re taking it. Also, learn what’s in the bag and where. Clear plastic wash bags like you might use for a flight are great – a dilating woman in need of her lip balm or a hair tie or a mother trying to get dressed for the first time post-baby is no place for a man-search.

DO expect some noise and swearing in with the yoga breaths and visualisations – your baby’s arrival in to the world will be the greatest moment of your life to date irrespective if you were told to f*** off five minutes before. In the movie of your life this is life’s greatest scene: history and memory will forget the details of the dialogue.

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DON'T scoff at the power of aromatherapy, alternative pain relief, reflexology and all happy-making products/sleep masks/essential oils even if you privately have no time for this. Harry and Meghan were spotted shopping at "beyond" organic brand Ila. Founded by former midwife Denise Leicester, their products are potent and mood-enhancing and some contain Rose Damascene oil which can even be said to help labour. The final weeks of pregnancy are quite alarming – some uplifting oil can go a long way… likewise, a pregnancy massage.

DO limit what’s going on on your phone. The internet doesn’t need to know that she’s had her first contraction – your phone blowing up with requests for updates will be infuriating, particularly in a long labour. Make a WhatsApp group so you can send one message to anyone she does want in the loop. Who is on the group is her call (no debate).

If birth is private so are the first hours and days of family life. DON'T circulate or broadcast random photographs or stress your partner out with updates of who is asking for a photograph. Until recently this creature was attached to her body – she will take a photograph and share a photograph when she feels ready. No one wants to be there via Insta Stories. Likewise, the name you thought you loved might no longer seem right. There’s no hurry.

And finally, whether it was relatively drama-free, or with unexpected moments of trauma for you both, once you’re home, do pull up the drawbridge. There hasn’t been a royal baby without a Paddington press call in decades but Meghan and Harry have taken “a personal decision to keep the plans around the arrival of their baby private. The Duke and Duchess look forward to sharing the exciting news with everyone once they have had an opportunity to celebrate privately as a new family.”

Perhaps their view that the world can quite literally wait comes from reading a viral piece on the "drawbridge" – you don’t have to have a castle to get on board with this, your partner will thank you, and be astonished if you produce it as your plan for those precious but slightly fragile first days. The takeaway is that the job is to discreetly cancel everything and everyone. Congratulations… you have the best excuse in the world who needs you both for as long as it takes, and everyone will understand.

Pip Hospital Birth story

Tue, 07 May 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Positive Induction

Second Time Mum.

9lb 11oz (Petite mother!!)

41+4

No stiches or intervention J.

My first experience of childbirth involved induction and intervention. An experience I was keen to avoid the 2^ndtime round.

I chose to do the hypnobirthing course to adjust my mindset and have a more positive experience. I hoped this time round I would have the natural labour and water birth that I dreamed of last time.

My estimated due date came and went, so I was glad that I was aware that the due date myth is estimated and not totally accurate. The midwife offered me an induction appointment at 40 + 3 and I confidently turned it down. During the walk home I wondered if I had done the right thing. As the next week passed, I did my research, asked questions and came to the decision that I wanted to be induced again, even though I was worried that history would repeat itself.

At 41+4 we started our journey to the hospital to find that the main road was shut. The detour round country lanes took us an hour. Thank goodness I was not in labour then as I was in charge of map reading and was uncomfortable enough without being in labour.

I started with the prostaglandin gel and 6 hours later an ‘old school midwife’ broke my waters. She said that they would check on me at 10pm and then start the drip. I told her that I wouldn’t need the drip as I had done a hypnobirthing course and was going to quietly sneak off and have baby in the toilet. She dismissed my remark with a look that said “I’ve done this a million times it doesn’t work like that”.

After half an hour of monitoring and not much action I took a walk to the car and back with my partner. By the time we got back to the room 15 mins later the contractions were coming every two minutes and lasting a minute. My body cleared itself out (careful what you eat before labour!!) I started breathing and put on the tens machine (which quickly got forgotten about). A new midwife and student came in and I could barely say hello for concentration on breathing through contractions. They were great and had read the birth plan. The lights were dimmed, hypnosis track was playing in background and gas and air were placed at hand. I was left to it. They offered the birth pool at this point, but I didn’t want to change rooms or disrupt the flow.

After a couple of hours, I needed a rest so lay down. I felt that labour was well on the way and in the up stage, lying down would not matter (I don’t know if this is correct) for ten minutes rest. I say ten minutes I had no idea of time. I then felt my body start to push. The midwife said something about ‘Upright, forward and open, if you kneel on the bed’ which prompted me to get into that position. I heard in the background the midwife telling the student “no need for examination as I think she is close”. This was reassuring and motivating for me. The only words I spoke through the whole event were ‘water and jelly baby’ plus the thumbs up sign when hubby asked if I was ok. I don’t know how to describe this but the next thing I knew I was visualising the head appearing, followed by the midwife saying, ‘it’s a boy!’. It’s the weirdest feeling having a baby slip out from between your legs.

This birth was one hundred percent a positive experience. I had no pain at all during the supposed ring of fire. Did I mention his hand was by his face and his head circumference was off the scale big? I did have to concentrate on the breathing the whole way through as if I got distracted discomfort ramped up. The gas and air did take the edge of. I just needed a few breaths as I felt the contractions approaching.

I had the option to go home that night but couldn’t face putting my new baby in the car seat at 1am in the morning. I also knew that there was only one other lady on the postnatal ward. I was up and about and feeling ready to take care of a new born the next day. He is a calm, relaxed and delightful baby.

Thanks to Hypno-birthing I felt far more in control this time.

Treating Tokophobia: The women who are scared of giving birth

Wed, 15 May 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Reproduced from an article written for ELLE magazine

BY NATASHA BIRD

18/04/2019

This feature is part of ELLE's 'Modern Motherhood Series' - exploring the shifting role of 'mother' in society and the women choosing to do things differently.

‘I think I always thought that I would die during childbirth,’ says Sophie.

‘I could envisage myself being pregnant. But I could never actually see the birth. It was like a blank spot – my brain wouldn’t let me imagine it; wouldn’t let me think about it.’

Severe birth-aversion is a real, if underdiscussed, phenomenon. It’s even got a fancy scientific name – tokophobia.

It’s different to fear, in the sense that to be phobic about something is debilitating, overwhelming. Most of us are a bit scared of new experiences, but we put ourselves through them without too much external help, whereas an untreated phobia would compel you to run in the opposite direction with your eyes closed and your fingers in your ears.

In the case of arachnophobia (spiders!), fleeing the scene might be an option with few grave consequences. In the event that you happen to be pregnant and phobic about the process of getting the baby back out of your body, the repercussions of trying to avoid it altogether could be quite serious for all parties involved.

The British Medical Journal (BMJ) estimates that anxiety disorders specifically related to pregnancy are present in over 17 per cent of women after they reach their first antenatal appointment. And tokophobia exists within that group.

‘This doesn’t really paint a full picture, though,’ says The Baby Show’s birthing expert Milli Hill, founder of the Positive Birth Movement and author of The Positive Birth Book.

‘I think many modern women are very scared of giving birth. Although most wouldn’t get a diagnosis of full tokophobia, they may still be feeling all kinds of things on the spectrum of fear, from anxious to absolutely terrified,’ she explains.

‘I don’t personally subscribe to the idea of ‘birth without fear’,’ she continues, ‘because giving birth is going to be daunting even for women who have done it before and feel confident about it. It’s not your average day! However, I think we do have a problem when so many women are absolutely dreading it, and the reason for this is because birth has begun to be accepted as traumatic, or even violating, by its very nature. We are beginning to lose track of the possibility that it can be anything other than dreadful,’ Milli finishes.

How Did We Get Here?

As the argument goes, birth is a ‘natural’ process and one that women’s bodies are designed to go through, so how did so many of us become scared of it, sometimes to the point of phobia?

‘First of all, there is what I call the ‘broken chain of wisdom',’ says Milli.

‘Several generations of women who have had traumatic, disempowering and downright violating birth experiences and who have literally nothing to pass on to their daughters other than fear and negativity.

‘Then, there are the TV shows like One Born Every Minute. These shows are interesting because they perpetuate the problem. They portray birth as an event in which women are largely passive and at the mercy of medical professionals. They hardly, if ever, show a woman having her choices being explained to her and making a decision about her care. This leaves the viewer with the impression that birth is something that is ‘done to’ women rather than ‘done by’ women, and that they don’t have any agency in the process.’

And for Sophie, 33-years-old and currently pregnant with twins after fertility treatment, it seems like it was exactly a combination of these two factors which contributed to her tokophobia.

‘There is a memory I have of myself,’ she says, ‘watching the film Nine Monthswith my mum. I must have been about 14-years-old and I remember turning to my mum during the birth scene and asking, ‘Is it really that bad?’ and her replying, ‘It’s worse.’ I looked at her then and said ‘I’m never going to do that. I would die.’

‘Many years later,’ she goes on, ‘and my sister’s experience of childbirth completely compounded my anxiety. During her first birth we actually lost her briefly. She stopped breathing, as a drug that she’d been administered had caused her to go into respiratory arrest. The doctors appeared to be giving up on her and focusing just on my niece. Luckily her husband wasn’t having any of it and screamed the hospital down, to save his wife. But my concept of birth after that was simply: danger.'

‘I developed this deep-rooted fear,’ she says, ‘that I would die during childbirth.’

So What Can We Do?

In Sophie’s case, where anxiety around childbirth escalates to extremes, the only way to begin to tackle the problem is through therapy. Let’s state this from the outset though: even if you are not experiencing a phobia-level of aversion and are just feeling a bit anxious, a good hypnotherapist or a course of cognitive behavioural therapy can be extremely effective in giving women the tools to manage their own experiences.

There are so many success stories, including Sophie’s.

‘I actually started seeing the hypnotherapist before we got pregnant,’ she says, ‘and the idea was floated that perhaps my fear of childbirth was one of the causes of infertility – my brain not letting me get pregnant.’

‘Therapy during my pregnancy has helped me to understand where my fears come from and has educated me that nothing will go to plan, but that I can be prepared for that and that I will have the skills to make decisions in the moment.

‘I am starting to see birth less as a medical emergency or a process that I won’t come out of alive and more as something that I am going to be monitored and mentored through. I am hoping to train my mind and body for the process. They always say you wouldn’t run a marathon without training, so I am trying to see giving birth that way. Trying to get myself to the fittest I can be and mentally prepared for it.

‘Oh and I definitely don’t want to know about other people’s birth stories any more,’ she concludes.

Are We Letting People Down?

Beyond more severe cases of tokophobia, if what Milli Hill says is true and a majority of pregnant women now feel scared to give birth, then we ought to look at why this is happening. We need to do something on a bigger scale, to reverse the mounting anxiety.

‘In the wider media there is so much negative messaging,’ says Milli. ‘Horror stories and phrases like ‘a healthy baby is all that matters’, implying that the experience of birth is unimportant as long as everyone gets out of it alive.

‘There is often also this language of permission in birth: ‘they let me/they did not let me’. This shocked me, that women were talking about birth in terms of what they were allowed or not allowed to do,' she continues.

This emphasis on a mother’s autonomy is surprisingly divisive. It seems obvious that we should get a say in our own childbirth process, but in practise, this doesn’t often seem to be the opinion of the others in the room. If there’s one other childbirth horror story we’ll be permitted to bring into the debate here, it’s that of Serena Williams. After her C-section, Williams felt short of breath. Fully aware that, with her history of pulmonary embolisms, this signalled trouble, she alerted a nurse to the situation. That nurse didn’t believe her, suggesting that her ‘pain medicine might be making her confused.’

Luckily, Williams persisted and they found the blood clots in her lungs, treated her and everyone ended up fine, but her story is telling. If even Serena Williams, fierce tennis superstar, aggressively autonomous, vanquisher of many men, is treated like a brain-addled dope during childbirth, what hope do the rest of us have?

Even in 2019, women aren’t being empowered during birth, despite the fact that it’s our bodies begetting another human and our lives hanging in the balance.

‘I started the Positive Birth Movement (PBM) seven years ago,’ explains Milli, ‘because it was the kind of thing I had craved when I was pregnant. It’s just groups of women coming together to talk to each other and listen to each other, share positive birth stories and share information about our rights and choices.’

As Milli says, we need to ‘inspire women to think about birth as something that they are strong enough to do and do brilliantly,’ but also that they have every right to make their own choices, at every stage.

What Can The Government Do?

At a higher level, there’s much more that needs to be done to help women engineer their own positive birth experiences.

For one, it is relatively rare that a pregnant woman will continue to see the same midwife more than once or twice during her pregnancy. In fact, often you’ll be seen by more than one midwife during childbirth. And there's a great deal of research to show that seeing the same midwife throughout reduces fear and anxiety.

‘Continuity of carer is something that the NHS is working towards as the result of a review called Better Births,’ reveals Milli.

‘If you know and trust your midwife, you will automatically feel more reassured and safer. Continuity of carer has also been shown in research to be 24 per cent less likely to experience preterm birth, 19 per cent less likely to lose their baby before 24 weeks gestation, and 16 per cent less likely to lose their baby at any gestation.

'Women were also more likely to have a vaginal birth, and fewer interventions during birth (instrumental birth, amniotomy, epidural and episiotomy). Women who received this type of care also reported greater satisfaction with information, advice, explanation, venue of delivery, preparation for labour and birth, choice for pain relief, were more positive about their overall birth experience, with increased agency and sense of control and less anxiety.’

And so...

The more you dig into the topic, the more awkward it is to watch the government falling short of its duty of care, not necessarily for women's safety during childbirth - the maternal death rate continues to decline rapidly - but for their overall wellbeing. Women need to head into childbirth with as much positivity as they can muster and a huge part of that is feeling empowered to make decisions about their own bodies, to have people in the room that they trust and to feel like they are being listened to. Continuity of carer seems like a ludicrously simple solution, but it's one that could radically change the experience.

The onus, however, isn't just on the NHS. It's on us too. If we lay off the scare stories just a little (your experience is valid, you should be heard, but perhaps watch how many people you tell it to?) and instead support other women by offering ways to be better educated for childbirth, to find a great doula or midwife to enlist, or just to feel more confident about speaking up about what they want for themselves, we'll be at least half of the way there.

Stress Early in Pregnancy Tied to Lower Sperm Counts in Adult Sons

Sun, 02 Jun 2019 00:00:00 +0000

This is a compelling study looking at yet another potential long term effect of being born to a mum who suffered a stressful event in pregnancy. Another reason why mums need to be supported to negate or reduce stress is pregnancy.

Stress early in pregnancy is associated with reduced sperm counts and lower testosterone levels in adult sons, a new study has found.

The study, in Human Reproduction, included 643 men, 407 of whose mothers had been exposed to a stressful event within the first 18 weeks of pregnancy: death of a relative or friend, job loss, divorce, pregnancy concerns, marital problems, money issues or other stresses.

The researchers examined the men when they were 20 years old. They found that on average, compared with men unexposed to maternal stress, those who were exposed to three or more stresses in early gestation had a 36 percent lower sperm count, 12 percent lower sperm motility (that is, fewer sperm swimming efficiently), and 11 percent lower blood testosterone levels.

The critical development period for the normal growth of male reproductive organs is 8 to 14 weeks’ gestation, and the association was not significant after 18 weeks of pregnancy.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/30/well/family/stress-early-in-pregnancy-tied-to-lower-sperm-counts-in-adult-sons.html

A number of women steered towards repeat caesareans is much higher than necessary

Thu, 18 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

It is frightening that we are at a time in our society where we are talking the talk about empowering women and ensuring their choices in birth are informed choices, yet we are not always walking the walk. The psychological fallout of this can be subsequently very damaging in the transition to parenthood.

This article published on www.conversation.com highlights how we need to be doing more....

As many as one in four women in the UK now give birth by caesarean section, the vast majority of them carried out by choice. The overall number has more than trebled in the last 40 years.

While it is true that birthing outcomes for women and babies have improved over this period, there is no evidence that this is a direct result of the increase in caesareans. While women should be able to choose how they give birth, this is not always clearly presented to them by doctors or midwives. This could undermine the ability of these mothers to choose whichever option is right for them, whether a caesarean or a vaginal birth.

Something like four in five caesareans are planned as opposed to emergency, and many are women who have already given birth the same way in a previous pregnancy. In many hospitals in the UK, this means that the proportion of women who have vaginal births after previously having caesareans is low.

This is despite the fact that vaginal births after caesareans are successful in as many as 76% of cases – in situations when these births are not working out, normally it simply means that the mother needs to give birth by another caesarean instead. So what’s the problem?

Reluctant doctors

The policy and professional guidelines in the UK say that clinicians should involve women in these birthing decisions. Clinicians’ professional bodies recognise that it is safe for most women to have vaginal births after caesareans, yet the quality of information they receive varies, and there is evidence that some clinicians are conservative about supporting women to let nature take its course.

Though many parts of the UK have established “pathways of care” which aim to improve the access and consistency of the information, pregnant women still don’t always receive full and unbiased advice. It has been described as a “fog” of conflicting opinions and advice, based on the clinician’s experience or personal preference rather than scientific evidence.

This may be the result of obstetricians with less experience in giving the relevant counselling – or who lack the confidence to manage the labour of women who opt for a natural birth, which may be more complicated. Part of the problem is that the prospects for a successful vaginal birth in these circumstances varies from woman to woman, and there is no UK model available that accurately predicts which women are likely to be more successful.

While this exists in other countries, such as the Netherlands, you can’t just cut and paste another national model because women vary from country to country in everything from ethnicity to the state of their health. To ensure that UK women can properly take part in a shared decision-making process, with information that is tailored to them, we therefore need to develop a model based on data collected within the country.

The UK study

I have been involved in a study aimed at identifying predictive characteristics that could inform such a model. We used detailed clinical information for over 1,600 women who had attempted vaginal births after a previous caesarean. This is the largest UK study using consistently detailed data, and also includes about three times more women than any European studies.

In keeping with previous studies, we found that factors that made such women more likely to have a successful vaginal birth included: not being overweight; having previously had a caesarean because the baby was in breech position; or having previously had a vaginal birth as well as a caesarean. Importantly, however, we also found that a previous caesarean in the second stage of labour – when the cervix has completely opened and the woman has started pushing – was strongly associated with a successful vaginal birth for a future pregnancy.

It is hoped that these findings will encourage clinicians to take the evidence into account when offering advice. Our next step is to test the same findings on a larger number of women using data from across Scotland – this first study concentrated on Scottish women from one hospital. In time, this should help develop a clinical tool that will support women to make more informed choices about how they give birth – hopefully making more women confident about their ability to give birth vaginally, if that is what they choose to do.

https://theconversation.com/number-of-women-steered-towards-repeat-caesareans-is-much-higher-than-necessary-118140

New mothers' smell may change fathers' behaviour towards children

Thu, 25 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

What an incredible study proving what we have suspected for a long time...that "New Dads aren't affected by hormonal and biological processes as they haven't given birth" is a myth!!

‘Post-pregnancy females’...odour is sufficient to induce psychological and behavioural changes’

Smells from pregnant and recently pregnant women may increase men’s interest in their babies, a new study suggests.

The research links the smell given off by new mothers to the length of time male participants want to look at babies’ faces.

“We found preliminary evidence that exposure to post-pregnancy body odours did significantly increase effort expended to view infants’ faces,” the scientists, from Newcastle University and the University of Stirling, said.

For the study a group of 91 men, aged 19-44, were recruited by researchers and told to sniff odour samples repeatedly over a total of 10 minutes.

Some of the odours were collected from five women, aged between 27 and 33 years old, who gave birth during the research period.

The women provided two pairs of odour samples on three separate occasions; during early pregnancy, late pregnancy and after they had given birth.

The men took an online questionnaire both before and after exposure to the smells, which also included those from non-pregnant women.

The male participants were told to press keys to shorten or lengthen the time they wanted to look at images of men, women and babies’ faces.

Scientists found the post-pregnancy odours led to a “marginally significant effect” in the men’s responses to images of baby faces.

Participants who had been exposed to the post-pregnancy smells spent longer looking at the babies than men who were not.

It is possible that the smells given off by pregnant women may make their partners more engaged fathers.

“Our findings can be seen as providing the first evidence that brief exposure to post-pregnancy females’ body odour is sufficient to induce psychological and behavioural changes related to infant care,” the authors of the study said.

“We found that brief exposure to post-partum odours significantly increased the regard value of infant faces.”

The odour samples were collected from the women using cotton pads sewn into t-shirts which participants wore over 24 hours.

Five non-pregnant women, aged 24-29, also provided samples using the same method.

The study’s authors include Caroline Allen from Newcastle University and Craig Roberts, a professor at the University of Stirling.

Their findings are linked to previous studies which show that fathers’ who look after young children experience a drop in testosterone levels.

The team’s research is published in the journal Physiology & Behavior.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/mothers-smell-pregnancy-fathers-babies-university-of-newcastle-stirling-a8960156.html

Parenting Job Description

Sun, 18 Aug 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Parenting: the job description

By Wendy Golledge (Associate Editor, Netmums.com)

Some say it's the toughest job in the world, but it's also the most rewarding. You don't get any training, there's not much in terms of pay or holiday allowance and yet thousands accept the position each year. If parenting came with a job description it might look a bit like this ...

How many times have you wished parenting came with a how-to manual? And a list of magic cures for teething, tummy aches and scraped knees, and perhaps a PowerPoint of failsafe sleep solutions ...

But what about if before all you were given a parenting job description. Would you apply?

Salary

None (sorry about that).

In fact, you pay them. And they'll expect regular pay rises and bonuses.

Hours

24/7. Successful candidates are allowed a few hours snatched sleep per night for the first few years, increasing to slightly more as you remain in the position.

Even during night time hours, successful candidates will be expected to wake and resume normal duty at a moment's notice. There are 'bathroom breaks' during the working day but you may be accompanied by small people who you will be expected to chat to and entertain, possibly allowing them to sit on your lap while providing answers to any pertinent questions they may ask.

Candidates must be willing to work variable hours, including evenings and weekends, and be on call for, well, life.

Note: there is no pension scheme or set retirement age.

Holiday allowance

Basically, none.

There is one allocated day per year (it is marked in the calendar as Mother's Day) but don't expect a massive break. On this day you will also be expected to eat cold toast in bed.

On other national holidays such as Christmas you will be expected to work longer hours.

There will be periods marked as 'holidays' in the early years but please do bear in mind that these will often require you to work twice as hard to keep the equilibrium – just in a different place with a higher temperature.

In latter years, travel to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends will often be allocated as holiday, despite being less relaxing than normal working hours.

Previous experience

Alarmingly, none required.

Essential skills required

Ability to get through the day on less than three hours' sleep (please note: sleep will not necessarily be in one stretch).
Firm knowledge of the alphabet, days of the week, months of the year etc (preferably in song form).
Ability to carry out repetitive tasks (often involving wiping up bodily fluids) without complaint.
Basic rhythm and being able to rock a baby to sleep continuously for approximately three years.
Ability to do most tasks one-handed (please note, we provide a one-day training course in buttering toast/jam with one hand for any candidates unable to do so at start of taking on the role).
Knowledge of most common nursery rhymes and songs. Preferred applicants will be able to point to the ceiling, point to the floor, point to the window and point to the door as well as point to various body parts – heads, shoulders, knees and toes etc.
Candidates must have advanced knowledge of what various sections of society would do when on a bus (with wheels going round and round).
Ability to generate the majority of animal noises immediately when asked. Special notice will be given to candidates who can also demonstrate convincing accompanying actions.
Ability to make convincing aeroplane/train noises whilst advancing food towards small mouths.
Recognition of special treasures such as particularly fine sticks, shells and pebbles.
Acceptance that any beverage you consume will be tepid, at best, and stone cold (more usually) in the first two years of service.
Must possess the ability to bite tongue repeatedly, particularly within the toddler and teenage years.
Advanced knowledge of how to make slime.
The ability to plan and organise increasingly impressive social gatherings and parties for clients of all ages.

Physical demands

Please note, this role requires a certain degree of physical strength.

Successful candidates must be able to carry a heavy weight in a car seat up flights of stairs and put up or unfold a buggy using one foot and a knee alone in under six seconds. As the role advances, this procedure may need to be carried out with a child held under one arm while stopping another running into the road.

Be aware that there may be bodily injuries from scratching or biting, and you will need strong shoulder strength to carry a small load for a mile back from a long walk.

Candidates must be proficient in giving piggy backs and shoulder rides.

Your immune system will be routinely tested with numbers bugs and infections passed on by your charges.

All applicants will be tested on their ability to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat, in case an incident arises in which the the screams from the garden are a bonafide injury and not someone just crying wolf.

Advanced skills required as you progress in your role

Ability to find objects that no one else can locate
Ability to replace an empty toilet roll with a new one
Advanced negotiation conflict resolution techniques
Ability to pretend to buy and eat pretend food stuffs at pretend shops and pay with pretend money
Being able to distinguish Tom Gates from Wimpy Kid, Dan TDM from Unspeakable, Rapunzel from Tiana and Baby Annabel from Baby Alive.
Advanced levels of patience
Ability to refrain from dropping the f-bomb despite being under continuous pressure
Ability to successfully complete three tasks simultaneously while planning a further two
Skills in releasing toys from nigh-on-impossible-to-free-from packaging at a moment's notice on special days and to remember to also have batteries to hand to make said toys work
Ability to whip up costumes at a day's notice for special events

Desirable skills

Preferred candidates will possess the following skills:

Detailed knowledge of all Disney princesses, Fortnite and Minecraft
Ability to make beginner (fishtail) and advanced (starbust) loom bands
Knowledge of all the words to 'Let it Go' and 'Baby Shark'
Ability to withstand stepping on Lego in the dark without shouting out loud or swearing at an audible level
Ability to perform emergency first-aid

Possibility for advancement or promotion

None.

In fact you must be prepared to step down a notch the longer you hold the position and fade into the background, while still providing basic care and handing out lots and lots of money. Oh and lifts.

You must be willing to be indispensable one minute, and an embarrassment the next.

Kenyan couple gave birth to baby boy live on youtube

Mon, 09 Sep 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Kenyan couple Shiko and Rama delivered their baby on their own - the birth of their third baby happened so quickly that the midwife hasn't yet arrived! They then posted it on YouTube.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-africa-49611807/hypnobirthing-why-kenyan-couple-delivered-their-baby-on-youtube

Children born by C-section may have weakened immune systems

Mon, 23 Sep 2019 00:00:00 +0000

The bacteria in the guts of newborns was signficantly different if they were born by vaginal or caesarean birth Credit: Getty Images Contributor

Babies born by caesarean section may have abnormal immune systems and be at greater risk of contracting bloodstream infections from hospital bugs, a new study suggests.

For decades health experts have feared that c-sections prevent babies picking up protective bacteria that they should have been exposed to in the birth canal.

It is known that children born by caesearean are more likely to develop allergies, autism, ADHD, asthma, Type 1 diabetes and be obese, and scientists supected that a misformed microbiome - the collection of bugs in the gut - might be to blame.

Now a seven year study by scientists from University College London (UCL), the University of Birmingham, and the Wellcome Sanger Institute, has found that c-section babies do have a microbiome that is significantly different to babies of natural birth.

Although the experts do not yet know the long-term health consequences, they believe that natural birth is a ‘thermostatic’ moment which primes the immune system. Without exposure to the mother’s gut bacteria, the immune system may not develop normally.

The c-section babies also had more bacteria that are typically acquired in hospitals, which can lead to bloodstream infections.

Dr Nigel Field, clinical associate professor at UCL, said: “We found significant differences between babies born by caesarean and babies born vaginally.

“Babies are sterile when they are in the womb and the moment they are born is the moment when the immune system has a huge number of bacteria that is it presented with.

“And so the hypothesis is that that moment of birth might be a sort of thermostatic moment which sets the immune system for future life.

“There is research showing that babies born by caesarean section have a slightly higher risk of immune-related conditions. They have a slightly higher risk of asthma, or inflammatory bowel disease and other allergic conditions.”

Britain has one of the highest rates of caesarean section in Western Europe, with 26.2 per cent of the 679,000 births delivered this way, compared with 19.7 per cent in 2000. Nearly half of c-sections are elective, rather than emergency.

New research is the largest ever study of baby microbiomes with scientists analysing 1,679 samples of gut bacteria from 596 babies and 175 mothers. Faecal samples were taken from babies aged four, seven or 21 days old, who had been born in three UK hospitals.

Surprisingly, the scientists found the bacteria in naturally born babies had come from the mother’s gut, rather than the birth canal, suggesting it is exposure to microbes around the perinaeum that is important.

Some clinics in the US offer a practice known as ‘vaginal swabbing’ for c-section babies in which bacteria is collected from the birth canal and placed in the baby’s mouth. But the new study suggests the practice is flawed.

Scientists found the differences in gut bacteria between vaginally born and caesarean delivered babies largely evened out by one-year-old, but large follow-up studies are needed to determine if the early differences influence health outcomes later in life.

Principal Investigator of the Baby Biome Study, Professor Peter Brocklehurst, of the University of Birmingham, said: “The first weeks of life are a critical window of development of the baby's immune system, but we know very little about it.

“We urgently need to follow up this study, looking at these babies as they grow to see if early differences in the microbiome lead to any health issues.

“Further studies will help us understand the role of gut bacteria in early life and could help us develop therapeutics to create a healthy microbiome.”

Experts from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists say that these findings should not deter women from having a caesarean birth.

Commenting on the study, Andrew Shennan, Professor of Obstetrics at King's College London (KCL), said: “Our microbiome, the bacteria that live on our skin and in our gut, is important to us to ensure optimal health.

“We obtain a lot of this around the time of birth. This important study confirms that the way we give birth will alter our microbiome in the first year of life.

“Caesarean delivery results in fewer bacteria in the baby’s gut being like its mother’s. This is not known to be harmful and mothers who need a caesarean should not be alarmed. The further effects of this in long term health need to be evaluated.”

The research was published in the journal Nature.

Sarah Knapton, Science Editor, The Telegraph

Congratulations to Kat and Chris who welcomed their baby son Alfred on 17.9.19 at Salisbury Dsitrict Hospital

Wed, 02 Oct 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Hi Sharon,

Hope you are well?

We just wanted to let you know that baby Alfred arrived safely on Tuesday 17th weighing 8lbs.

The whole process didn't go exactly as we would have liked but I'm pretty confident that we couldn't have done anything differently!

Things started early on Saturday morning and we ended up going in and out of hospital that weekend. My waters broke on Monday morning and I got to use the pool which was nice and listen to your MP3s!

Sadly I got stuck at 4cm for hours and the gas and air had kind of lost it's effectiveness and I was absolutely exhausted by this point having not slept for a long time.

I then had the hormone drip and an epidural, baby was getting a bit distressed so the whole process was slowed down as his heart rate kept dropping (possibly because he was holding the cord during contractions).

I then finally got to full dilation and tried to push him out....he wasn't having any of it so ended up being taken to theatre and they tried ventouse and forceps. Neither of which worked due to his position.

So I ended up having a c section!

I can honestly say (and Chris agrees) that we wouldn't have managed as well through the hours and hours of contractions, uncertainty and what could have been extremely stressful without the skills you gave us in the sessions.

Although it wasn't what we had hoped for originally (wasn't exactly the calm water birth with low intervention I had hoped for!) I feel really pleased with how we both managed and persevered without giving up! And I really think this was down to the hypnobirthing sessions! The breathing techniques and the sound of your voice was very helpful!

Some of the midwives also commented on my good breathing techniques!!! (Which is totally thanks to you!)

We just wanted to say a massive thank you for all your help and support.

Congratulations to Emma and Simon who welcomed their baby daughter at Salisbury District Hospital on 21.9.19

Tue, 08 Oct 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Hello Sharon,

Thank you, our daughter was born almost 2 weeks late on the 21st September with the help of an induction, she was a healthy 8lb 10oz.

The midwives at Salisbury were absolutely fantastic, with the help of Hypnobirthing and a pool birth I had the best birthing experience I could have asked for.

I didn’t use the hypnobirthing tracks during labour but I definitely used the techniques I had been practicing during the lead up to birth day. At times I’m sure they were being used without even thinking about it, at no point was I fearful and managed the whole labour on 6 paracetamol and 20 minutes of gas and air.

Induced, so fairly controlled and quick. I had been told that induced births were more painful, not that I previous experience to compare it to but I found that the pain of contractions were bearable and I felt extremely calm. The midwives did everything they could to support the birth, the birthing pool was wonderful, with the assistance of calming music and low lighting in the room I felt very relaxed! The midwives allowed me to trust my own instincts and were not intrusive at all, my husband and I were very much in our own little bubble going through the process of birthing our daughter.

Saskia and Dan Hart baby daughter born on 3rd October at Salisbury District Hospital using hypnobirthing techniques

Sun, 13 Oct 2019 00:00:00 +0000

I gave birth to a healthy baby girl on 3rd October in Salisbury District. I did stage one of labour at home and then arrived at my routine midwife’s appointment at 41 weeks 7cm dilated! Needless to say I headed off to hospital (my plan) and I was in stage two labour for 2 hours and then gave birth under gas and air. Thank you for giving me the presence of mind to breathe through the pain!

Why is it so hard to allow women the kind of labour they want? By Catherine Bennett

Sun, 24 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Decades on from the resurgence of a woman's right to have a natural birth, and the reality is still that women are often not given the full information to make a truly informed choice.

The Shrewsbury maternity scandal is in part explained by a fetish for ‘natural birth’

That “the journey down the birth canal is the most dangerous any of us will ever undertake” used to be a favoured saying among the more sententious sort of obstetrician. The maxim was unlikely, as they must have known, to inspire much confidence in the birth process, definitely not if left to its own devices.

Probably because of another implication – that bow-tied male physicians were at least as vital to the weaker sex’s labouring performance as traffic police are to motorways – the journey analogy has been eclipsed by the more empowering mantra of “pregnancy is not an illness” and assurances, originating in the natural childbirth movement, that – done right – the act of giving birth could be a transformatively rewarding, even “psychosexual” experience. The quality of joy seemed to depend, particularly, on how successfully the labourer had escaped medical intervention, from pain relief to induction. Checking out the NCT advice after a good two-decade gap, I discover that, although “natural” in childbirth seems at some point to have been replaced with the less contentious “straightforward”, the organisation’s belief in the superiority of intervention-free birth appears undiminished since the late Sheila Kitzinger first communicated the ecstasies that clinicians had suppressed.

Among the benefits of “straightforward” delivery itemised by the NCT are “you are more likely to feel satisfied with your labour” and “less likely to experience psychological problems like depression”. It notes that there are no guarantees on how to achieve satisfaction, though for low-risk mothers “your own comfy home or a midwife-led unit are strong options”. Even in the comfiest of homes, the NCT admits, “there is a slightly increased risk to your baby”.

The degree to which NCT precepts have been normalised was clear when Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, emerged, the third time, from hospital, to renewed tributes to her exemplary ability to enter a ward, deliver a healthy child minus analgesics and leave groomed and in heels, in an unbloodied dress, within 45 minutes, give or take. Mail headline: “11 hours’ labour and all natural! How serene Kate sailed through a textbook delivery as she goes through the perfect birth she was hoping for”.

Once its anti-patriarchal origins are forgotten or dispensed with, the philosophy of natural childbirth campaigners has obvious attractions for NHS cost-cutters and for anybody convinced, for whatever reason, that women have, as per, been making a fuss about nothing. In their aversion to elective caesareans, these disparate groups have found something around which they can all unite. More generally, where once unlucky mothers encountered an authoritarian determination to medicalise childbirth, recent reports indicate an occasional hostility towards intervention, which could, in extreme cases, be at least as damaging. The recent investigation into avoidable deaths at Furness hospitalbetween 2004 and 2013 uncovered, among its horrifying failures, a determination among midwives – known as “the musketeers” – to pursue “normal” childbirth “at any cost”.

Now the leaked provisional report into multiple deaths in Shropshire and Telford hospitals says it was “inadequately” investigated by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) in 2017 and identifies, among other failures detailed in the Independent, “a long-term lack of informed consent for mothers choosing to deliver their babies in midwifery-led units – where risks can be higher if problems occur – which ‘continues to the present day’”.

Perhaps a suspicion of intervention, along with occasional fetishisation of natural/straightforward birth, also helps explain what is otherwise mystifying: that only now, after a major Swedish study, suspended after researchers concluded its continuation was unethical, is it confirmed that leaving induction until after 41 weeks is associated with an increased number of stillbirths.

There will always, of course, be some women for whom the possible prize of a “straightforward” birth cannot outweigh the substantial, extensively documented risks of vaginal delivery or even the ignominy freely associated with its alternative, an elective caesarean. To the consternation of sections of the NHS and the World Health Organization, this demographic is growing. “Worldwide,” says the WHO, “caesarean section rates have been steadily increasing, without significant benefit to the health of women and babies.” It seems plain to them that this particular expression of female preference must be utterly deluded. Swimming pools? Yes, lovely. A considered disinclination to risk urinary or faecal incontinence, vaginal tears, PTSD or, above all, stillbirth? Mad. Maybe the WHO should rethink its factsheet on maternal mortality (810 a day globally): it can only encourage unhelpful, caesarean-affirming reflections on human design flaws.

Supposing this development can be partly attributed, as sometimes alleged, to consultant/husband convenience or lawsuit avoidance (which might alone say something about relative risks), the WHO does at least acknowledge that women are, in defiance of holy writ, refusing to consider childbirth a white-knuckle ride, acute pain as incidental and their bodies as collateral damage.

What, it wonders, can be done to stop these mothers concluding that medical science can offer, in childbirth as elsewhere, a radical improvement on nature? The popular allegation, “too posh to push”, has proved ineffectual. The WHO prefers correction by “educational interventions” or failing that – possibly inspired by some abortion arrangements – “requirement for second opinion”.

Baby being born via caesarean section. Photograph: mvaligursky/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Advice from the UK’s RCOG is similarly of the view that planned caesareans being, for no obvious reason, wronger than home births, women who ask for them (though presumably not the third of female obstetricians who do so) are similarly wrong, possibly mentally unwell. Addressing women choosing a planned caesarean, it runs through the risks, but not so you’d realise that most obstetricians believe vaginal delivery to be more dangerous for a baby. You may, it kindly suggests, have “tokophobia” (extreme fear of childbirth). No, mate. Though you may have overactive paternalism.

And that guidance preceded the latest revelations about maternity care failures. Going for a vaginal delivery? Then you probably know the physical risks. But are you familiar with prevailing childbirth ideology at your chosen provider?

• Catherine Bennett is an Observer columnist

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/23/why-so-hard-to-allow-women-kind-of-labour-they-want

Why would the Post Natal Mental Health and Early Parenting Relationships ONLINE training be right for me and my therapy practice?

Mon, 20 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The world has been facing global challenges in the fight against corona virus. Never in most of our lifetimes have we experienced such disruption, and - dare I suggest it - collective trauma. As therapists and counsellors we are on the frontline to support people's mental health through this crisis and beyond.

Pregnant women and expectant fathers are facing alterations to maternity services that has left intended birth plans in disarray and feeling largely out of their control. Unfortunately this sets the scene for increased birth trauma, and the ongoing fallout for isolation and lack of access to support in the months ahead as new parents.

As therapists, many of our businesses are facing new challenges in changing the way we deliver our services to clients. We've been working really hard at 'easibirthing and parenting training' to focus on producing new content and resources ahead of schedule to support both therapists and clients through this current crisis.

Specialising in this area will give you the cutting edge in developing your business to face the challenges ahead. This course will equip you to stand out as the obvious expert in your field-not only for new parents but in working with emotional and mental health in the wider sense.

We firmly believe that the need for counsellors and therapists is going to be greater than ever. It's vital therefore that you keep your training up-to-date and indeed that you take advantage of the lockdown to use the time to build your skills for the future - you are much needed, both now and far into the future. Undoubtedly we will see a mental health crisis on the back of this medical crisis.

The 'Post Natal Mental Course & Early Parenting Relationships' course launched on Friday 10th April.

Furthermore if you enrol on the FREE TASTER 'How to be a Good Enough Parent' course, you will receive an extra 10% off the full course price (that's 25% OFF in total!).

So treat yourself and your business. Enrol now at https://school.easibirthing.com

Congratulations to Vicky and Ed on the birth of their baby boy using hypnobirthing at Salisbury District Hospital on 10.5.20

Mon, 11 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000

So after a few pains and some bleeding (2 days after a UTI diagnosis) I came back into hospital last night at 10pm and was asked to stay in for 24 hours to monitor heart beat and blood loss... a few hours later at 3.59am today we welcome a little cutie into the world at 33weeks and 2 days weighing 4lb and 2oz
He’s doing so well, in incubator but currently breathing unaided, bloods etc all spot on!!!!!
AND NO DRUGS!!!!!!!!!!!
You are a miracle worker.... I have no idea how you did it as I’ll admit I hadn’t done much homework yet as I thought I’d have quite a bit more time but you did it and I will recommend you and hypnobirthing to everyone I ever talk to ?????
Thank you so so much for all your help x x

Babies are active participants in birth, not passive recipients.

Fri, 29 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000

A beautiful video showing how active a baby is in the womb. The 'stepping reflex' is one way that a baby is an active participant in birth

Watch below or on our easibirthing youtube channel at https://youtu.be/1TtxRMDO9Zs Find out more in our ONLINE 'Hypnobirthing course for women and birth partners' at http://school.easibirthing.com

Insomnia during pregnancy is common. Ways to help get better sleep when you are expecting

Wed, 03 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Why is insomnia common during pregnancy?

Insomnia often occurs during pregnancy because your body is going through many changes that can disrupt sleep.

To get better sleep during your pregnancy, you can establish a calming sleep routine, get some light exercise each day, and try a few relaxation techniques.
While occasional sleep troubles during pregnancy aren't likely to harm you or your baby, you should talk with your doctor if you consistently experience the symptoms of insomnia throughout each trimester.

Insomnia and sleep deprivation can be one of the most frustrating aspects of pregnancy.

Expecting mothers experience many symptoms during pregnancy — from nausea and nasal congestion to increased urination and anxiety — and all of these can cause trouble sleeping.

Thankfully, there are ways to improve your sleep habits, even when you feel like the odds are against you. Here's what you need to know about insomnia during pregnancy.

What causes insomnia during pregnancy?

Insomnia can occur at any time during pregnancy, but it's most common in the third trimester.

A 2017 study in the European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology found that more than 60% of pregnant women experienced third-semester insomnia.

"For some women it may increase in the third trimester as it becomes more difficult to find a comfortable position to sleep and there is increased anticipation about the baby's arrival," says Danielle J. Johnson, MD, FAPA, Chief Medical Officer at the Lindner Center of HOPE.

The major causes of insomnia during pregnancy include:

Restless legs
Abdominal or back pain
Discomfort caused by gestation (growing a baby in the womb)
Frequent urination
Hormonal changes
Nausea or vomiting
Respiratory changes, which can cause nasal congestion or nose bleeds
Psychological factors like stress or anxiety

Pregnancy is an immense time of change for your body, both physically and mentally. Your hormones fluctuate, your habits shift, and you're expected to make many stressful decisions — from your birth plan to your parenting preferences.

As you adjust, it's natural to have some trouble sleeping when you're pregnant. However, a routine lack of sleep can put pregnant women at a higher risk of developing potentially harmful conditions, such as preeclampsia and gestational diabetes.

Moreover, a 2015 article published in Obstetric Medicine also found that consistent sleeping troubles in pregnancy can lead to depressive symptoms, increased pain during labor, preterm birth, or low birth weight.

How to get better sleep during pregnancy

We all need sleep, but it's even more critical for expecting mothers and new parents. Thankfully, there are ways to improve your sleep habits during pregnancy.

According to Johnson, here are four of the best recommendations for avoiding insomnia and improving your sleep while pregnant:

Establish a sleep routine

First, it's important to go to bed and wake up around the same time every day, Johnson says, and make sure you're sleeping in a dark, quiet room with a comfortable temperature.

And even though you're likely feeling a lot of discomfort throughout pregnancy, it's still possible to still find a comfortable position in bed.

Pregnant women should try and sleep on their sides for optimal comfort.

You should also remove all electronics from the bedroom, including TVs, smartphones, and tablets, and only use your bedroom for sleeping or sex, says Johnson.

Implement exercise into your day

Regular physical activity can improve quality of sleep and also reduce anxiety or depression.

When pregnant, you should get at least 150 minutes of exercise each week. For example, you can go for walks, practice yoga, or try a dance class.

"If you exercised before pregnancy, it is okay to continue the same exercise," says Johnson. However, you should discuss your exercise regimen with your physician to ensure you're maintaining safe habits.

Find ways to relax

"Pregnant women and new mothers often worry about their health, their baby's health, if they will be a good mother, and how their family will change," says Johnson, adding that this anxiety can keep you lying awake at night.

If you're feeling anxious or worried, it's important to find the relaxation techniques that work best for you. Johnson says it can be helpful to practice deep breathing, try meditating, read, or take a bath — either right before bed or if you wake up in the middle of the night.

Address your mental health needs

However, if you're experiencing anxiety or depression during your pregnancy, you should speak to your doctor or a mental health professional.

Psychotherapy and hypnotherapy can help relieve symptoms, says Johnson, and a therapist can teach pregnant women or new moms coping skills or tools to reduce their stress.

Check out our online Hypnobirthing course for labour and birth OR Hypnobirthing for caesarean section at to complete at your own pace. Or contact us for in-person or online antenatal or pregnancy support

New hypnobirthing online course available

Thu, 04 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Why not complete a hypnobirthing course online at your own pace from anywhere in the world! At our 'easibirthing Fertility to Parenthood' online training school you can also enrol on our courses for new parents such as How to be a good enough parent or How to help you child develop a positive sense of self. We recognise that life doesn't stop being busy just because you are pregnant or looking after a newborn. Our low-cost online courses are developed with you in mind. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

All our courses contain the following types of learning:

Video Introduction and Closing words from Sharon Mustard, easibirthing and parenting training founder
Audio visual lectures narrated by Sharon Mustard, your course tutor
Animated and illustrative videos to enhance your learning
Downloadable hypnosis audio tracks for each section of the course; for use in practice and during labour
Downloadable summary 'prompt sheets' for use in labour

The impact of the pandemic on new parents is very real.

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The impact of the pandemic on new parents is very real

Charities are calling for help with mental health as new parents are learning to not only be parents, but also adapt to our new way of living.

Charles and Caroline Ross and their 5 month daughter Amelia

Charities are calling for mental health help for families to be ramped up urgently after a new survey revealed fears over the damage lockdown is having on parents and babies.

More than half of the respondents from an online survey of hundreds of expectant and new Scottish parents said their mental health is their biggest worry while 53 per cent feel their baby is “more clingy”. However, charities behind the study warn that seeking help is more challenging while health services are delivered virtually.

More that 73 per cent of parents fear the impacts changes during the pandemic are having on their babies while a third are not confident they know where to get help.

The study by Home-Start UK, Best-Beginnings, Parent-Infant Foundation and the Maternal Mental Health Alliance has prompted calls for universal family support in every community.

Home-Start in Scotland has seen calls for help soar since March and fears that many parents at risk of post-natal depression could be struggling in silence. Douglas Guest, acting director for Home-Start in Scotland, said: “Families have struggled for months without usual support networks.

“We are hearing from many that previously wouldn’t have contacted us. Some have been furloughed so have money worries. The need for help is going up exponentially. Parents as yet have no ante- natal groups so they are missing out on friendships.

“A big worry is the isolation, especially for the mental health of new mums. There are still many places where HV are not doing home visits. And it’s much harder to ask for help on the phone or a screen.”

Scotland’s network of Home-Starts helps more than 3,000 families and 6,500 children every year in 20 local authority areas. Trained volunteers are now providing services by phone, doorstep delivery and online classes. But the charity says stop-gap services highlight the need for earlier intervention.

Guest said: “The longer people are ‘just coping’ the more we’re storing up problems for the future. The development of babies can be affected when parents are anxious or depressed; it makes it harder to care for and settle kids. That can become a vicious cycle. We need to have a proper safety net, for it to be acceptable to say ‘I need help’.

“Around 50 per cent of mums don’t access services and about one in ten fathers suffer from post-natal depression, according to the National Childbirth Trust.”

Guest added: “Many new parents are not able to access support from health providers while facing isolation. We urgently need a universal family support to tackle this. There’s still a post-code lottery of support.”

Other charities including Aberlour and One Parent Families Scotland have reported demand for help outstrips available services. Clare Simpson, manager of Parenting across Scotland, a partnership of organisations supporting families, said: “Before the pandemic many were already struggling while others were just managing to get by. It’s simply not right that some families don’t have enough income, decent housing or food for their children – it creates huge worry and anxiety for families.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We have invested over £6 million of additional funding to support national mental health initiatives during this time, which includes £2.6 million to increase the capacity of NHS 24’s telephone and online services, and funding to make additional parenting resources available through the Scottish Government’s Parentclub website.”

‘I felt this big ball of emotions’

Caroline and Charles Ross were over the moon when Amelia was born in January.

But at just two weeks old the tot was rushed to Accident and Emergency.

“It was one of the scariest experiences of our lives.” Amelia was diagnosed with silent reflux, a condition that makes feeding extremely painful.

Caroline, 29, said it took a toll. “We were dealing with a baby who was crying 90 per cent of the time. Every time we put her down she cried. There were some very dark days. You just don’t get a rest. Not knowing what to do to help your baby is hard.”

The couple, from Musselburgh, felt isolated from the start. When Amelia’s condition started to improve lockdown came into effect.

Caroline, an events organiser, felt she wasn’t coping.

“I felt this big ball of emotions. My anxiety was through the roof. I didn’t want to worry my husband or family so put a brave face on.”

She got counselling from local charity First Steps. “I had two months of counselling on the phone. I was in tears at the start. It was huge to have that space. Having that support was life-changing. It turned things around.

“I had heavy guilt because I knew that Amelia would pick up on how I felt and take it in.

“Some days we felt we were hanging on by a thread. I know that if I hadn’t got support I would have crumbled.

Charles, 33, said: “Dads 2 Be group have been invaluable. But we felt we were left to just struggle on.”

“Health services made it difficult when what we really needed was help. Our mental health was torn to shreds. I hope one of the things to come out of this crisis is that services will be made easier for people to access.”

#easibirthing #newparents #mentalhealth #counselling #charities

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/health/hidden-impact-lockdown-families-new-babies-2890598

What inspired you to become a hypnobirthing practitioner? Interview with Sharon Mustard

Fri, 07 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Interview with Sharon Mustard from the 'Hypnosis Training Academy'

What inspired you to become a hypnobirthing practitioner?

I qualified as a hypnotherapist and psychotherapist 25 years ago and whilst hypnobirthing was in its infancy back then; my passion was to work with pregnancy and parenthood as a specialism. I owe this inspiration to two things; I was born and raised in Northern Ireland to a very large fertile family- one of 43 first cousins! Also my father was a pig farmer so being fascinated by birth was an integral part of my childhood. Given my family history and having successfully used hypnobirthing in the births of my own 3 children, I wanted to help others to have the opportunity of a positive birth-managing their unique experience, not fearing it. In my role as a hypnotherapist, empowering expectant mums how trust in their body so they enter labour feeling calm, confident and in control really the best feeling in the world.

How long was your training course and did you need any additional training/qualifications to become a professional hypnobirthing practitioner?

The National College of Hypnosis and Psychotherapy (nchp) is the only UK hypnobirthing model that will only train already qualified hypnotherapists with a grounding not just in the hypnotic state, but in concepts such as emotional abreaction and critical factor bypass. Within this context hypnobirthing training exists as a CPD course for those whose already have the prerequisite knowledge and expertise to practice professionally and ethically. The CPD training is 14 hours (or 2 days if completed all at once). On the aspect of birthing knowledge required for effective intervention with clients, it is crucial to remember that we are not training to be childbirth experts, but hypnosis for childbirth experts. I personally believe that hypnobirthing training should be adding specialist knowledge and techniques to the toolbox and repertoire of already being a practicing hypnotherapist-their are huge parallels to be drawn with the work we all do with clients already.

After you completed your training, how did you go about getting your first hypnobirthing clients? Do you have any recommendations for others just starting out?

There are many opportunity doors to knock on in the world out there-but I believe success comes from employing the 7 P’s: Passion, Purpose, Persistence, Professionalism, Probity, Personality; which when aligned create successful Performance in our therapy practices. As with any aspect of hypnotherapy, the question we need to be asking is not whether there is enough demand for our services (after 23 years running a full-time private practice, believe me there is!); but how we commit ourselves fully to accessing the client groups we want to market to. Whilst our primary motivations as therapists will be to help people, we should not make apologies for needing to run a successful business! We are not going to be able to help people if we cannot sustain an income that allows us to continue helping. In hypnobirthing, pregnancy is the #1 reason for women consulting their GP in the UK (incidentally fertility issues are #2, an area where hypnosis also have a wealth of evidence proving its' effectiveness). Every pregnant woman in the UK has an assigned midwife so start with community midwives and those based in hospital and maternity units too. When our easibirthing practice started, we spoke at midwives regular meetings, offered to provide free talks at nhs antenatal classes, NCT meetings. We were soon offered nhs funding to run introductory ‘relaxation and breathing workshops’ for women and birth partners. The participants of these workshops fed through to our private hypnobirthing group courses. My advice would be to think outside the box; toddler groups, nurseries, even primary schools all have a high number of women expecting secondor subsequent babies. They will be even more open to the idea of hypnobirthing if they have had traumatic births first time round.My single, most important piece of advice would be, don’t be disheartened if one door closes, another one will open if you are persistent in looking for it!

How many sessions do you usually offer expecting moms before they give birth?

We offer 5 x 90 minutes sessions. Birth partners are highly encouraged to attend if they are able to. However we would never exclude women who are coming on their own or can attend less than the full course (there are hypnobirthing models which do this!). We work on the principle that somehypnobirthing training is better than no hypnobirthing training. Our clients can attend a group course, or one-to-one sessions in our offices or via video link. We see individuals and couples from all over the world for hypnobirthing.

What are some of the biggest fears/issues you help expecting moms overcome using hypnobirthing?

Childbirth (and pregnancy) is not a medical process-it is a normal natural physiological process. However our culture teaches us that it is very much the opposite. For many generations we have been told that delivering a baby is many hours of painfully agonising work, to be faced with fear and trepidation. Many of the fears I witness women have about childbirth stem from this negative social conditioning. They often worry about a long, painful labour that they may be unable to cope with, about complications affecting their baby’s and their own welfare, need for intervention such as induction or a C-section. A severe form of fear of childbirth is known as tokophobia which can be fuelled by a fear of death or of re-traumatisation following past sexual abuse.

If you don't mind sharing some of the details, what's been your most beautiful or profound experience as a hypnobirthing practitioner?

Our motto at easibirthing® is ‘changing expectations and challenging attitudes one birth at a time’. We talk about the birth of a mother and the birth of a father-whilst you as a parent is the real you, it is a part of you that hasn’t existed before. To play a small part in facilitating this transition to the new phase in their lives and witness women and birth partners transform in confidence in themselves and their bodies is both beautiful and profound. I feel the only fitting way to capture the magic of the moment of birth is to borrow one mum’s words:"I have never felt so powerful. I felt like I could conquer the world! I was loving it all! Amazing-nothing could have prepared me for such a beautiful experience & to have the opportunity to deliver and meet my baby without any sense of fear of the process was incredible-thank you so much.” Interestingly it is often when couples experience things not go according to plan but remain calm, confident and in control that really shows the true effectiveness of hypnobirthing.

And lastly, do you have any advice for aspiring hypnobirthing practitioners who are considering it as a career path?

Just do it-you will never look back! However I would definitely recommend choosing wisely-training in a hypnobirthing model that recognises and values your expertise and level of qualification as a hypnotherapist. There are many courses out there which will train non-hypnotherapists who don’t fully understand the scope of hypnobirthing beyond simple relaxation. When practiced by a trained expert you will be be able to harness the true power and inner strength of birthing women, often of an intensity that they never previously recognised in themselves! Also stick to a UK model as it will best reflect UK birthing practices. I am always happy to answer any questions about training in hypnobirthing.

Find out more about our range of live and online training events and online courses in fertility, pregnancy, childbirth, post natal mental health and parenting.

Praise for our new Hypnosis for Fertility ONLINE training

Fri, 11 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000

It was with great pleasure that I was able to participate in this course. The content, the videos and audios are very useful. I learned new information about Fertility and my curiosity about this has increased. It was a very rewarding experience. Due to my participation in the course, I had the opportunity to integrate, as a Psychologist, in a team that works in this area. I want to work as a therapist specialising in this area. Silvia

Have a look at our full range of training courses for therapists and practitioners.

A lovely review of our Good Enough Parent ONLINE course

Fri, 18 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000

"Thank you for sharing this course. It was extremely interesting and well presented. I wish I had this when I was raising my son! I definitely had my own experience of 'shark music'. However, the information will be really useful to support my clients in the future."

Check out our full range of training courses for therapist and practitioners

Also our full range of courses and services for parents and parents-to-be

Tokophobia and Fear of Childbirth expert podcast

Tue, 09 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Listen to the expert interview conducted by Carla Lett (MyBump2Baby) when speaking to Sharon Mustard, expert on 'Tokophobia and Fear of Birth' at https://www.mybump2baby.com/podcasts/mybump2babyexpert/tokophobia-fear-of-childbirth

Sarah and Simon, pregnancy and hypnobirthing clients

Fri, 21 May 2021 00:00:00 +0000

We would wholeheartedly recommend hypnobirthing with Sharon to anyone preparing for birth.

My husband and I attended a course on Hypnobirthing with Sharon Mustard prior to the birth of our son Reuben in early 2020 and it was one of the best things we did in preparing for his birth. Each informative session with Sharon left us feeling empowered, calm and in control - giving us the skills to stay positive and make informed decisions when the time came for labour. This course gave us a greater understanding and positivity about how birthing a baby is of course the most natural thing a woman's body can do and how it isn't a thing to fear. On the contrary I excitedly and confidently looked forward to the birth!

In the sessions we also did hypnosis, which we kept as recordings to listen to each evening if we wanted to in the run up to welcoming our baby. These recordings also saw me through the labour and immediately kept me focused on my breathing and in a calm frame of mind. Sharon's beautiful and calming voice stayed with me all throughout the birth and it was like having another birthing partner there by my side, along with my husband. This was especially valuable considering we welcomed our baby during the first COVID19 pandemic lockdown of 2020!

Sharon was also a great sounding board for our many questions and concerns and she never made us feel like we were asking a silly question.

Thank you so much Sharon for all that you did for us, we will be forever grateful.

Congratulations to Catherine and Daniel on the birth of their baby boy using hypnobirthing

Fri, 03 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Our little baby boy was born on 12th Aug at 17:04 and weighs 7.42lbs. My waters broke quite early, following 42 hours of labour....got to 9.5cm dilation but his head was stuck in the wrong place and would be difficult even with instruments. So had an emergency c-section in the end. What a journey! I didn't regret going through the labour experience though and felt I made the right decision at the time, based on the circumstances. I'm sure the hypnobirthing course and practices have helped!

Kate Middleton says hypnobirth didn't just get her though labor—it got her through pregnancy

Fri, 03 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Using visualisation and meditation techniques, hypnobirthing can reduce fear and anxiety.

An article in www.mother.ly reports that The Duchess of Cambridge is opening up about the meditative method that helped her deliver all three of her children and helped her cope with pregnancies made challenging by hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), a seriously debilitating form of pregnancy nausea and vomiting

The former Kate Middleton says she relied on hypnobirth, which is routinely used at the hospital where she delivered. In a new interview on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast with Giovanna Fletcher, Kate explained, "I saw the power of it really, the meditation and the deep breathing and things like that—that they teach you in hypnobirthing—when I was really sick and actually I realized that this was something I could take control of, I suppose, during labor," she said.

The Duchess explained: "It was through hyperemesis that I really realized the power of the mind over the body because I really had to try everything to try and help me through it."

It can be used during vaginal births and C-sections (and, as Kate proves, even when you're not giving birth but dealing with other challenges). Research indicates hypnobirth may make labor faster and reduce the risk of C-section, and that it can reduce a mom's fear and anxiety. Classes on hypnobirthing are available in most major cities (many experts recommend taking them when you're around 25 to 30 weeks), and several companies offer online courses as well.

Colleen Temple shares her experience. "Pre-hypnobirthing, I would literally cry on the spot when I thought about going into labor. Post-hypnobirthing? I felt empowered, strong, prepared and very ready to birth my baby. It transformed my mindset completely," she previously wrote for Motherly.

"With the help of the meditations and affirmations used in hypnobirthing, the fear of the unknown that I had before the course started shifted into the ability to truly trust that my body and my baby were going to do exactly what they needed to do to bring my little one safely into this world," shares Temple.

The mind can be a powerful thing, and Temple and the Duchess have plenty of company on team hypnobirth. Mogul mama Jessica Alba is also a fan. She told Ellen it's not weird, and is something women can involve their partners in. "My husband takes me through sort of a meditation. He'll say, 'you're relaxed, and you're floating on clouds while you're going through labor and your contractions. I'm just concentrating on breathing and staying relaxed," she explained.

The Duke of Cambridge wasn't quite as into it as Alba's husband, but that's because it was more of Kate's thing. "I'm not going to say that William was standing there sort of, chanting sweet nothings at me. He definitely wasn't! I didn't even ask him about it, but it was just something I wanted to do for myself," she said on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast.

Every mama should have things she wants to do for herself, and pregnant or not, meditation can be a great form of self-care.

Development of Self Concept-Our first five years course. ZOOM LIVE launch on 18th September 2021.

Fri, 03 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Join us for our ‘Development of Self Concept-Our first five years’ course. Now available to book online at https://school.easibrthing.com/p/development-self-concept-our-first-five-years. Our special offer of £10 off for the LIVE ZOOM launch on 18th September ends this Sunday!

Watch founder and director Sharon Mustard introduce the course

Feedback from our new "Development of Self Concept Our first five years' course for practitioners

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

I very much enjoyed the course and I think I gained some useful insights. It's always a good sign when you wish something wasn't coming to an end. I would definitely come to one of your courses in the future. Andrew

Your courses are always great; however it always never feels long enough for some reason feels like all topics could have more time to talk about. I always like doing self-reflection questions and doing the questions myself so I can see how client would feel doing them and I feel if you have done them yourself gives you more insight. I know you did one task with this which was helpful. I will always promote your workshops. Carlie

Egg freezing policy change in HEFA

Mon, 27 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The recently announced changes to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act (the ‘HFE Act’) on the freezing of eggs, sperm and embryos mean that employees will have more choices about having children – a catalyst for employers to review their fertility policy.

The new regulations mean that there will now be parity between those who wish to store their eggs, sperm or embryos for medical and non-medical (‘social’) reasons, with the freezing limit set to 55 years for both.

Peppy believes that this change means that inevitably, more prospective parents within the workplace will have questions about fertility treatment and egg freezing, as they will now have more freedoms about when and how to start or grow their families later in life.

In addition, there will be much more of a need to have an HR fertility policy in place, as fertility support is not just needed for rising talent – employers simply don’t know who in their workforce may need support as it is no longer just people of a reproductive age.

Francesca Steyn, director of fertility services at Peppy (and current chair of the Royal College of Nursing Fertility Nurses Forum) said: Employers can best help those employees considering or going through egg-freezing by empowering them with the right information and support at all stages of their fertility journey. This starts by having an inclusive fertility policy in place alongside comprehensive fertility support.

‘As employers are likely to see an increase in the number of people having fertility treatment, and therefore needing time off for appointments and for treatment cycles, there is going to be much more of a need for fertility support for the entire workforce – not only because it is the right thing for employers to offer but also to ensure equality for all staff.’

Peppy also suggests that fertility support and information should not only be applied to people going through IVF, but should also be readily available for people who are considering their options with regard to their future family plans.

Francesca Steyn continued: ‘This incredibly sensitive topic is one that all employers are going to need to prepare for. The right support means that staff will feel more comfortable and supported by work throughout their fertility journey, and employers will be better able to retain those employees who are preparing to become parents.’

Nature, as well as nurture, play a part in our ability to learn language.

Tue, 28 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

White matter density in our brains at birth may influence how easily we learn to understand and use language

Nature, as well as nurture, play a part in our ability to learn language.

Alexandru Micu

New research at the University of Boston found that the brain structure of babies can have an important effect on their language development within the first year of life. The findings show that, although nurture plays a vital role in the development of an infant’s language abilities, natural factors also matter.

The study followed dozens of newborns over the course of five years, looking to establish how brain structure during infancy relates to the ability to learn language during early life. While these results definitely show that natural factors influence said ability, they’re also encouraging — upbringing, or nurture, has a sizable influence on a child’s ability to develop their understanding and use of language.

For the study, the authors worked with 40 families to monitor the development of white matter in infants’ brains using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This was particularly difficult to pull off, they explain, as capturing quality data using an MRI relies on the patient keeping completely still.

Born for it

“[Performing this study] was such a fun process, and also one that calls for a lot of patience and perseverance,” says BU neuroscientist and licensed speech pathologist Jennifer Zuk, lead author of the study. “There are very few researchers in the world using this approach because the MRI itself involves a rather noisy background, and having infants in a naturally deep sleep is very helpful in accomplishing this pretty crazy feat.”

The fact that babies have an inborn affinity for absorbing and processing information about their environment and the adults around them isn’t really any news. Anyone who’s interacted with an infant can hear the hints of developing language in their cries, giggles, and myriads of other sounds babies produce.

But we also like to talk to babies, thus helping them understand language better. The team wanted to determine how much of an infant’s ability to learn is due to their inborn traits, and how much of it comes down to the practice they get with the adults in their lives.

The new study reports that functional pathways in the brain play a large role in forming a child’s language-learning abilities during the first year of their life. These pathways are represented by white matter, the tissue that acts as a connector in the brain and links together areas of gray matter, where neurons reside and perform the actual heavy lifting in our brains. The team was interested in white matter in particular as it is the element that actually allows neurons to work together to perform tasks. The practice of any skill leads to the reinforcement of connections that underpin it, they explain, showcasing the importance of white matter in brain functionality.

“A helpful metaphor often used is: white matter pathways are the ‘highways,’ and gray matter areas are the ‘destinations’,” says Zuk.

Together with senior author Nadine Gaab from Boston Children’s Hospital, Zuk met with 40 families with infants to record the development of their white brain matter. In order to ensure the quality of the recorded data, they had to make sure that the babies were sound asleep before placing them in the MRI machine — which was quite a challenge, as these devices can become quite loud. This is the first time researchers have monitored the relationship between changes in brain structure over time and the development of language throughout the first few years of children’s lives.

One area they studied, in particular, is the arcuate fasciculus, a strip of white matter that connects two regions of the brain responsible for the understanding and use of language. MRI machines can determine the density of tissues (in this case, of white matter pathways) by measuring the behavior of water molecules through individual pieces of tissue.

Five years after first peering into the babies’ brains, the team met up with the families again, in order to assess each child’s language abilities. They tested for vocabulary knowledge, their ability to identify sounds within individual words, or to form words from individual sounds.

They report that children born with higher levels of white matter organization showed better language skills at the five-year mark, suggesting that biological factors do have an important role to play in the development of language skills. By itself, however, these results are not enough to prove that biological factors outweigh nurture completely. They’re simply an indication that brain structure can predispose someone towards greater language abilities. The findings are meant to be a piece of a much larger image and not the whole.

“Perhaps the individual differences in white matter we observed in infancy might be shaped by some combination of a child’s genetics and their environment,” she says. “But it is intriguing to think about what specific factors might set children up with more effective white matter organization early on.”

Even if the foundation for language skills is established in infancy, the team explains, our upbringing and experiences are critical to build upon this natural predisposition and play a very important role in a child’s outcome. Judging from the findings, however, the first year of a child’s life is a very good time to expose them to language in order to promote the development of this skill in the long term.

The paper “White matter in infancy is prospectively associated with language outcomes in kindergarten” has been published in the journal Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.

In a series of 16 interview clips Karol Kosinski talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard

Mon, 04 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In today's podcast (1 of 16) Sharon talks to Karol Kosinski about her early origins and the passions which led her to specialising in helping clients along their journey to parenthood.

Interview 2 of 16 The miracle of childbirth and an introduction to hypnobirthing

Mon, 11 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 16 interview clips, Karol Kosinski, Hypnotherapist & learning designer at FutureLearn talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (2 of 16) Sharon talks to Karol Kosinski about the miracle of childbirth and an introduction to hypnobirthing.

Interview 3 of 16 Using hypnobirthing for pain relief in childbirth

Wed, 20 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 16 interview clips, Karol Kosinski, Hypnotherapist & learning designer at FutureLearn talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (3 of 16) Sharon talks to Karol Kosinski about the hypnobirthing for pain relief in childbirth

Interview 4 of 16 social conditioning and negativity bias about birth

Wed, 27 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 16 interview clips, Karol Kosinski, Hypnotherapist & learning designer at FutureLearn talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (4 of 16) Sharon talks to Karol Kosinski about social conditioning and negativity bias about birth.

Interview 5 of 16 Parenting as a job description

Wed, 03 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 16 interview clips, Karol Kosinski, Hypnotherapist & learning designer at FutureLearn talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (5 of 16) Sharon talks to Karol Kosinski (https://www.karolkosinski.org/) about parenting as a changing job description.

Interview 6 of 16 Unconditional positive regard and being with children as they are

Fri, 12 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 16 interview clips, Karol Kosinski, Hypnotherapist & learning designer at FutureLearn talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (6 of 16) Sharon talks to Karol Kosinski (https://www.karolkosinski.org/) about unconditional positive regard and being with children as they are.

Presenter Sharon Marshall talks to This Morning about her emotional fertility and IVF journey

Fri, 12 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

1 in 6 couples in the UK experience difficulties with conceiving and fertility issues. Sadly it remains a taboo subject in our society. As a consequence many women feel too embarrassed and ashamed to seek the help and support they need and deserve. Lets start talking about the hidden suffering that affects so many and bring the emotional and psychological journey of fertility and IVF into public awareness and understanding.

One person who knows this battle all too well is This Morning's Sharon Marshall, who spent six years undergoing IVF treatment before giving birth to her daughter Betsey. Sharon had seven gruelling cycles of IVF and two heartbreaking miscarriages and says she was completely underprepared mentally, emotionally and physically for the turmoil her body was going to experience. To mark fertility week, Sharon joined Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield to share her story in the hope of helping others.

Interview 7 of 16 Having the confidence to take risks & to accept we are not in control of everything

Thu, 18 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 16 interview clips, Karol Kosinski, Hypnotherapist & learning designer at FutureLearn talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (7 of 16) Sharon talks to Karol Kosinski (https://www.karolkosinski.org/) about having the confidence to take risks and to accept we are not in control of everything.

Interview 8 of 16 Expectations of society and building a meaningful network

Fri, 26 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 16 interview clips, Karol Kosinski, Hypnotherapist & learning designer at FutureLearn talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (8 of 16) Sharon talks to Karol Kosinski about expectations of society and building meaningful networks.

Supporting men and women on their journey to parenthood and beyond for over 25 years; easibirthing® and parenting offers LIVE IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE, ONLINE VIA ZOOM and ONLINE hypnosis and psychotherapy courses for fertility, pregnancy, hypnobirthing, post natal mental health & parenting support for both practitioners and clients. Visit us at https://www.easibirthing.com

Give the gift of learning in our Black Friday bonanza!

Fri, 26 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

With Black Friday, 26 November 2021, just around the corner easibirthing® and parenting training are delighted to offer our Black Friday Bonanza! Purchase our training school vouchers for any amount and we will give you an extra 25% to spend! Perhaps you could forward the link to a loved one to drop a strong hint to buy it for you - it is nearly Christmas after all! Below is the current range of courses available for practitioners and clients. To book your Christmas voucher simply complete your details at https://www.easibirthing.com/contact and state the voucher amount you require.

All courses available for clients and practitioners can be found at https://school.easibirthing.com

Interview 9 of 16 Social media and brain development

Thu, 02 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 16 interview clips, Karol Kosinski, Hypnotherapist & learning designer at FutureLearn talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (9 of 16) Sharon talks to Karol Kosinski (https://www.karolkosinski.org/) about social media and brain development.

5 star review of 'Hypnobirthing for Practitioners' course at Salisbury

Thu, 09 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The Hypnobirthing for Practitioners 3 day Live Course in Salisbury was excellent. It was a very comprehensive, detailed and interactive course, with great course material and backed up by plenty of research. Sharon is a very engaging teacher and has a lovely manner. I have come away feeling thoroughly prepared, knowledgable and confident in my ability to support women on their birthing journey. And can I just add - what a revelation Salisbury is! I had never been there before even though it is so easy to get to from London, being only an hour and half from Waterloo by direct train. It' really is such a beautiful historical small city. Staying there really added to the whole three days. Thanks Sharon for an overall brilliant experience! I look forward to definitely completing more courses with you.

Review by Berni Riding

Interview 10 of 16 Emotional awareness in an ever changing world & Mindful social media

Thu, 09 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 16 interview clips, Karol Kosinski, Hypnotherapist & learning designer at FutureLearn talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (10 of 16) Sharon talks to Karol Kosinski (https://www.karolkosinski.org/) about emotional awareness in an ever changing world & mindful social media.

How to manage our child’s emotional health around the excitement of Christmas…and manage our own!!

Mon, 13 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

There are an increasing number of big ‘C’ words in our lives today that can cause huge stress-and ‘Christmas’, if we allow it, can be right up there with the best of them!

In the weeks and months leading up to it, we leave the safe shores of wanting it to be as enjoyable as possible as we slip further and further into the fantasy of it being perfect.

Unfortunately this creates an unrealistic illusion and we leave ourselves destined to be disappointed.

When you have children, of any ages (including adult children), we want everyone to get on, have a great time, be appreciate of how fortunate we all are, be kind and courteous to all family members (no matter how annoying they may be!). In our constructed ideology, there is no room for conflict or emotions such as sadness or anger.

Then the reality falls fall from our perfect picture and we feel let down, exhausted and ready for a holiday as soon as it all ends.

As psychotherapists and hypnotherapists in our 26th year in practice, we expect the familiar pattern of referrals about difficult family relationships to once again show a sharp increase in January. Coupled with the personal shame and guilt often accompanying overindulgence-we seek to blame others for ruining the fantasy, or even internalise it to blame ourselves..a perfect storm for it not being the “new year, new start” we all hope for.

So I want to share with you 10 tips and tricks you can do to help manage the emotional health of our children around the excitement of Christmas, and help us to do the same and this year come out smiling!

It doesn’t have to be perfect, managing your expectations by aiming for ‘good enough’. Don’t fall into the trap of feeling that everything is within your control, when it is not. Start with drawing two circles on a piece of paper (one inside the other) and write in the inner circle all the things that are within your control this Christmas, and in the outer circle all of the things that aren’t.

To further help us adults manage expectations, if you find yourself thinking or saying the words “I should….”, change them instead to “I could…” to lessen the pressure you were about to impose on yourself by changing it from a self-imposed obligation to a choice. Your children will no doubt benefit from a more relaxed mum.

We build up our physical resistance and immune systems by having colds and flus. Emotional resilience is also built on challenges we face-even as children. Give them space to feel negative emotions like anger, frustration, disappointment, failure, rejection. It will aid them to grow into emotionally healthy adults, not just physically.

Our ability to learn from others and to develop psychologically and emotionally is what makes us human. So one of the ways you can do this positively is to talk about the emotions you feel, and how it is ok to feel them. However how, when and to whom we express them needs to be regulated. So when great auntie Joan gives them something they don’t want or already have, it is okay to feel disappointed. However if they are old enough to be polite in front of Auntie Joan and then talk to you later about how they felt, then you can show them the way to do this. If they are a young child though, don’t expect them to hold this in! If Auntie Joan doesn’t understand, then let that be her problem, not yours! Others’ behaviours are not your responsibility!

There are certain things in your children’s (and extended family members’) behaviours that are predictable, but not in a good way. Play a game of ‘mental bingo’ in your mind. Create your bingo card where the ‘bingo squares’ correspond to the predictable behaviours which would usually stress you out. Nobody need know what you are doing, unless you choose to secretly collude with a partner or sibling who helps with populating the bingo card. However heed the warning that knowing looks can be spotted!!!

If a young child is finding it hard to contain intense emotions (such as the frustrations of it talking two hours to get the large plastic dinosaur out of the box!), see then like a fire that needs to be extinguished. Hold them close until the fire is extinguished. We are helping them to learn to regulate their own emotions for later in life so as they don’t go into melting road rage when someone pulls out in front of their first Ferrari!

Remain vigilant about your child’s trigger warnings. Think of them like an elastic band. if you are witnessing high expressed emotions, recognise that the elastic band is stretched and its limit may not be far away. Avoid the temptation to push your luck by keeping them up late to watch that family movie. By the way, this applies to you too!

For older children, and again for ourselves, practice ‘mindful social media’. Before you reach for your phone, think about how you feel at that time and based on that, what you are looking for when you access the app. If you are not likely to get what you need-proceed with caution. So if you are feeling lonely, reading about other peoples’ socialising is not going to help!

Normalise emotions. Don’t over share, but allow us into our emotional world. They learn they don’t have to hide emotions from us, or that they are flawed human beings for having feelings.

If you have a child who finds it difficult to cope with excitement, build an ‘age-appropriate’ CALM DOWN KIT than contains items/books/toys/music tracks/suggestions on picture cards/photos that can help bring the emotions back to a stable baseline. Don’t forgot to give them permission to use it in all circumstances where you have made a prior agreement that it is appropriate.

Feedback from a hypnobirthing mum who had an unexpectedly quick home birth

Wed, 15 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

To let you know that I gave birth to our little baby girl a couple of weeks ago. She arrived the morning of my birthday, and very quickly…Thankfully I’d had chance to put my hypnobirthing tracks on as my waters broke the night before, because there wasn’t much warning when my contractions started - she came before my midwife could get to us. I kept calm, confident and in control as I managed on my own until I had to call my partner, knowing that the baby was (remarkably) about to be born. My midwife was on speaker phone talking him through what to do; my body knew it’s part, and I trusted in all the work you and I had done as well as visualising my midwife with me at my son's birth.

What a special moment.

Charlotte

Interview 11 of 16 Being mindful in other settings and when can children practice mindfulness

Fri, 17 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 16 interview clips, Karol Kosinski, Hypnotherapist & learning designer at FutureLearn talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (11 of 16) Sharon talks to Karol Kosinski (https://www.karolkosinski.org/) about being mindful in other settings and when can children practice mindfulness.

Interview 12 of 16 Effect of mum and dad's nervous system on a baby

Tue, 28 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 16 interview clips, Karol Kosinski, Hypnotherapist & learning designer at FutureLearn talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (12 of 16) Sharon talks to Karol Kosinski (https://www.karolkosinski.org/) about the effect of mum and dad's nervous system on a baby.

Interview 13 of 16 Pregnancy related anxieties, tokophobia and birth trauma

Wed, 05 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 16 interview clips, Karol Kosinski, Hypnotherapist & learning designer at FutureLearn talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (13 of 16) Sharon talks to Karol Kosinski (https://www.karolkosinski.org/) about pregnancy related anxieties, tokophobia and birth trauma.

Tokophobia & Birth Trauma for Practitioners (3 CPD hours) LIVE event

Wed, 05 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Enabling you to assist clients to overcome extreme anxiety so they can experience freedom from fear of conception, pregnancy or traumatic birth

When: Friday, 11 February 2022 from 17:30 to 20:30 (GMT)
Where: Chilworth Manor, University Parkway, Chilworth SO16 7PT
Cost: £80

Refreshments are included and a CPD certificate of attendance will be available.

Course introduction

Tokophobia is a pathological dread and avoidance of childbirth. It is a distressing condition which can often be overlooked by medical professionals. As well as specific phobias and anxiety, tokophobia may be associated with depression and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Fear of childbirth is common and more intense in pregnant women who have not had a previous experience of childbirth. Over 20% of pregnant women report fear and 6% describe a fear that is disabling. Altogether 13% of women who are not pregnant report fear of childbirth sufficient to postpone or avoid pregnancy.

This is a 3 hours CPD course for professionals to assist clients to overcome extreme anxiety so they can experience freedom from fear of conception, pregnancy or a traumatic birth experience.

PLEASE NOTE: This course is being hosted by New Horizon Training

For booking and more information

Interview 14 of 16 Prevalence of tokophobia and social conditioning

Wed, 12 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 16 interview clips, Karol Kosinski, Hypnotherapist & learning designer at FutureLearn talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (14 of 16) Sharon talks to Karol Kosinski (https://www.karolkosinski.org/) about the prevalence of tokophobia and social conditioning.

Interview 15 of 16 Society's focus on fear and returning to our intuitive self

Wed, 19 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 16 interview clips, Karol Kosinski, Hypnotherapist & learning designer at FutureLearn talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (15 of 16) Sharon talks to Karol Kosinski (https://www.karolkosinski.org/) about society's focus on fear and returning to our intuitive self.

Interview 16 of 16 The philosophy of therapy and our personal commitment for change

Thu, 27 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 16 interview clips, Karol Kosinski, Hypnotherapist & learning designer at FutureLearn talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (16 of 16) Sharon talks to Karol Kosinski about the philosophy of therapy and our personal commitment for change.

Kerry's testimonial review January 2022

Fri, 28 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

It was lovely meeting you last weekend at Chilworth and hearing your presentation.I wanted to email you to thank you. Since that session and chatting to you afterwards, a light has come on inside of me about making this career change real. Lots of questions that I’ve had for a while are being answered and that is inspiring me to come up with other ideas and inspiration; I even sketched some logo ideas over the weekend!Hopefully our paths will cross again. You have helped motivate me to do more and be more - thank you! Kerry

Tokophobia and Birth Trauma LIVE CPD 11th Feb in Southampton

Wed, 02 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

What do you know about Tokophobia?

Tokophobia is a pathological dread and avoidance of childbirth. It's a distressing condition which can often be overlooked by medical professionals. Over 20% of pregnant women report fear and 6% describe a fear that is disabling. Altogether 13% of women who are not pregnant report fear of childbirth sufficient to postpone or avoid pregnancy. Fear of childbirth is common and more intense in pregnant women who have not had previous experience of childbirth.To learn more about Tokophobia and Birth Trauma, join us for our next 'Live and in person' event on Friday 11 February 2022 from 5.30pm to 8.30pm at Chilworth Manor (near Southampton), Hampshire, UK.This course will enable you to assist clients to overcome extreme anxiety so they can experience freedom from fear of conception, pregnancy or traumatic birth.(3 CPD hours)Follow the link to register: https://bit.ly/3GKzEv8The Tokophobia & Birth Trauma for Practitioners LIVE event is in partnership with @lisawilliamstherapy, New Horizon Training.

Review of '7 steps' LIVE course

Fri, 04 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Receiving feedback from people who attend our course is always lovely...

"Just wanted to say a personal thank you for your brilliant presentation at the weekend at Chilworth Manor. Your enthusiasm shone through and it really inspired me. Listening to you talk about how important having a passion is lit my internal fire." Julie

Loss and bereavement after miscarriage

Wed, 09 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Sadly we witness all too often women and men not receiving the sensitivity they need and deserve following the experience of a miscarriage.

Regardless of what point during the pregnancy that this occurs, it is still a major loss and may trigger unprocessed feelings from other experiences in the past. It leaves the person vulnerable to potential post traumatic stress disorder, depression or anxiety.

However the potential devastation for the women is often not understood by medical professionals or by their family and friends. Short staffing and resources stretched to the limit mean that professionals do not have the time or capacity to be there for them when they need it most. Unfortunately 1 in 4 women suffer miscarriage, but just because it is common doesn’t justify normalising or dismissing the experience for the individual.

Women often experience themselves as "just a number", “cold and clinical” when she doesn’t get the empathy and support she needed.

For men, their experience is often given even less consideration and attention; sidelined because “I wasn’t the one who was pregnant”.

So as a society, let’s recognise that the bereft parent-to-be needs time to grieve, and offer the safe space in which to talk about it should they so wish.

Trauma is trauma whether it happened in the context of a birth trauma, pregnancy-related trauma or early in pregnancy. Let’s help them heal.

Conception after 30

Wed, 16 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Several studies have shown that fertility rates for women decrease at around 3% each year after the age of 30. However from 1980-2002, fertility rates across the world for women over 30 were actually increasing overall. We have better nutrition, better access to assisted conception, better medical care overall. In wealthier nations, people are now healthier overall and likely to be more fertile for longer periods of their lives. And for many, after age 30 is a better time in their lives to have children!

Why not train with us as a practitioner on our LIVE ZOOM 2 day Hypnosis & Psychotherapy for Fertility course on 23-24 April 2022. More details at https://www.easibirthing.com/.../cat.../practitioner-courses

'Is it Going to Hurt' to watch this drama?!

Wed, 23 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I have been resisting joining the debate of Adam Kay's 'This is Going to Hurt' maternity ward black-humour drama. So many of my colleagues in the pregnancy and birth arena have aired their views and tbh I wasn't sure I had anything further to contribute that has not already impassionately been said. However I have now had so many hypnobirthing and post natal clients in clinic talk about the show with frustration and fear, that I felt it time to break my silence.

The main concerns are that it portrays an nhs maternity ward where women in labour are belittled, disempowered and treated as a number. Interestingly the maternity staff themselves are protrayed as overworked and not listened to when they are struggling. The recognition of the importance of the mental health of both has moved on considerably in the past decade, and whilst we are nowhere near where we want to be yet, I feel this drama (set in a period between 11-17 years ago!!) is taking advantage of women's vulnerability at a time when fear is already heightened by changing maternity care during the pandemic.

An recent Irish study found that 37% of pregnant women had high levels and 5% had severe levels of childbirth fears.

Common broad categories of fears experienced by women are:

· safety concerns

· fear of pain in labour

· fear of the unknown

· fear of being left alone in labour

· fear for the baby's health

· lack of trust in or worries about unfriendly staff

· appearing silly and lack of involvement in decision‐making

Women need to be listened to and to be part of the decision making process throughout; their self-efficacy that they can do this built rahter than destroyed.

The following is an abstract from our 'Tokophobia and Birth Trauma' course:

Building a relationship with your midwife and obstetrician

"Talking to maternity professionals about your fears can mean you work together towards a common aim of treating tokophobia or indeed preventing it in the first place.Because of the faith women will have in their expert knowledge, birth professionals have ‘prestige suggestion’ defined as 'A persuasive message delivered by or attributed to a highly respected or admired source to maximize its credibility'. Research has measured the effect of nursing suggestions to labouring women and recommends that the conversation of the nurses be 'controlled carefully for the purpose of advancing the birth process'.

Midwives in Britain are generally very committed to empowering women, but changing language around childbirth is an evolving process-as professionals let's be an active part of this change.

The benefits of mindfulness during pregnancy

Wed, 02 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Pregnant women are being encouraged to incorporate mindfulness techniques into their daily lives as it is known to offer many benefits. Practicing mindfulness can:

Help reduce stress
Reduce the fear of labour
Lower the risk of postnatal depression
Help mother and baby bond/connect
Promote healthy development of offspring

Mindfulness and meditation are ways of slowing down all the energy and processes ongoing in your brain and body, a great way to ground yourself. By incorporating these practices, you can focus better and be more efficient with daily activity.

I liken it to spending time cleaning your desk or office. One always assumes a lack of time for decluttering but we all know that by doing so, we actually improve efficiency. It creates even more space and time to breathe and think and focus and brings about improved reactions.

It can help regulate emotions when pregnancy hormones are raging.

It can help a mother connect with her baby

Mindfulness allows the individual to focus on the feelings and sensations they’re experiencing in the moment, allowing a mother-to-be to fully focus on connecting with her unborn child.

I often help mums-to-be within therapy sessions to master these skills-engendering positive feelings towards her pregnancy

It Promotes Healthy Development

Studies have also discovered that practicing mindfulness during and after pregnancy can help encourage the healthy development of offspring. A 2015 study conducted in the Netherlands found that babies born to mothers who practiced mindfulness starting in their second trimester faced fewer developmental problems, including with self-regulation and effortful control. Similarly, another 2015 study found that babies born to mothers who incorporated mindfulness techniques in their second trimester had a more efficient use of attentional resources, or in other words, were more attentive to sound, which is important for learning and understanding language.

Qualify as an easibirthing® Fertility Practitioner

Wed, 09 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Do you want to qualify as an easibirthing® Fertility Practitioner?

Book on our next LIVE training for Practitioners on 23rd & 24th April 2022. LIVE via ZOOM so you don't even have to leave the comfort of your own home! 25% OFF for bookings prior to 1st April.

A course for professionals to help women and men increase their chances of conception and deal with the psychological and emotional challenges of difficulties in conceiving

Feedback from our recent LIVE training.... "I really found Sharon so easy to listen to and the balance of humour, content and knowledge within her delivery is absolutely superb."

Lisa

BOOK NOW

Tokophobia and the relationship with elective caesarean sections

Wed, 16 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Tokophobia is "an unreasoning dread of pregnancy or childbirth" which, without support, can be incredibly debilitating. It is important that women, and men reach out for support. There are many therapists throughout the UK who specialise in this area.

Avoidance behaviours characteristic of phobic states may be experienced. Antenatal appointments may be missed, engaging with conversation about the pregnancy or baby may be avoided, and preparation for birth or motherhood avoided because of feelings of disgust or fear of the process. It may be difficult to talk to their partner or family about and this which may, in turn, cause feelings of isolation.

Levels of fear can fluctuate during pregnancy and usually increase as birth becomes imminent.

Fear can juxtapose a balance of risk avoidance and risk taking, meaning that some women will mitigate their risk by having more medical interventions and choosing caesarean section. Fearful partners may also influence birth choices. Nevertheless, fear may not resolve and women may still experience birth trauma or low birth satisfaction if adequate support is not perceived or if they have a negative encounter with a health care professional.

A severe fear of childbirth is associated with lower birth satisfaction, negative birth experiences and post-partum traumatic stress disorder. Infant bonding issues may be experienced. Fear of childbirth may also be passed on through generations from mother to daughter, affecting self-efficacy in the ability to give birth.

Lucy's hypnobirthing story at home

Wed, 23 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I started getting pains on 16th December the day after going onto maternity leave at 37 weeks pregnant. The pains were very mild though and I thought it was just my pelvis feeling achy, they got a bit worse through the day on the 17th but were constant rather than coming and going and I was able to carry on as normal, walking the dog and doing some housework. I had a routine midwife appointment late afternoon that day, where we went through my birth plan and she had a feel of baby's position and I was pleased to discover baby was in the optimum position. The midwife said I may or may not be in labour and to call if things got going. My husband went to get us some dinner and snacks in case this was labour as our weekly shop wasn't due till the next day! We had a nice evening, I still had mild pains and they had started coming and going. We put on a nice Christmassy film and at 22.30 I felt (and heard) a sudden pop. My waters had broken. We called the labour line to let them know and they said to call when contractions got closer together. We also called my mum, a retired midwife, who came over. My contractions really ramped up suddenly, close together and very intense. This initially frightened me, as I had been a long labour with my first baby and was concerned that I wouldn't be able to cope with the pain at that level if the labour went on for hours. I started using the hypnobirthing techniques and got into my own zone. My husband called the midwives back and my Mum told them she thought I was moving along quickly. My husband started getting the birthing pool we had hired ready and filling up. Within about an hour and a half of my waters breaking, I was feeling the need to push and the midwife still hadn't turned up. I was managing the pain using the breathing, visualisation and anchoring techniques I had learnt on the course, but there was no time to get in the pool! The midwife finally arrived to find me nearly pushing, she examined me and found I was fully dilated. I started pushing and Grace was born within half an hour, weighing 7 pounds 2 ounces. She was born on the floor in our living room with no complications and my Mum and husband present. The placenta was delivered naturally 20 minutes later. The second midwife turned up about an hour after she was born!

It felt amazing afterwards to have had the home birth that I had hoped for, even though it was a bit quicker than expected! I'm sure using the hypnobirthing techniques and learning so much about the birth process on the course enabled me to cope with the situation and to cope with the pain. I think learning about the hormones involved in labour and how to optimise the environment to aid this natural process also really helped to enable me to have the birth I wanted.

Hypnobirthing for Caesarean section the easibirthing® ONLINE course (4 hours)

Wed, 06 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Is hypnobirthing only applicable to vaginal deliveries?

A resounding NO from the team at easibirthing® !For too long the debate has solely been centred around whether a vaginal birth or C-section is the optimal mode of delivery for both you and your baby. And whilst that debate is important, it often misses the point of providing the woman with the full psychological support regardless of the decision.Even this debate played out publicly across the media and society can leave a woman who needs or wants a C-section feeling inadequate, feeling her body is inadequate somehow and guilt and shame can result. Sadly this guilt and shame can be in the foreground of her experience, even if the birth experience she wanted was far from the scenario of a necessary or recommended C-section. These women need all the support we can muster, to let go of any guilt, that this is not only not her fault but the reassurance that it is okay, that this doesn’t change the fact that she is still having her baby, giving birth to her baby, becoming a mum to her baby. That she has every reason to feel proud of herself and her body. That sometimes things don’t go according to plan, and to forgive herself because there is nothing to forgive!

With the launch of our new 'Hypnobirthing for C-section' course, we really want to generate discussion as to how women and birth partners need and deserve our hypnobirthing support as therapists just as much as someone planning a vaginal birth.

How learning can transform a therapist practice

Wed, 13 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000

At easibirthing® and parenting, we love to hear about the transformation our courses can make to a therapist's work....

Dear Sharon, me and all my colleagues absolutely loved your teachings.

I have left your class feeling so positive and everything you said makes complete sense.

Thank you so much, you're an inspiration. Maria

Hypnobirthing is suitable for ALL childbirth, whether labour and vaginal delivery OR C-section!

Fri, 29 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000

At easibirthing® and parenting we believe that the best birth is the one that is right for THIS mum and THIS baby. Every woman deserves to be supported regardless of the mode of delivery.

Labour can be unpredictable, and an emergency caesarean can be the right decision for some women and babies so an important role of a hypnobirthing course should be to build a repertoire of techniques to deal with when it doesn't go according to plan.

But did you know that hypnobirthing is suitable for an elective or planned C-section birth too?

In light of the recent Ockenden report, a controversial and fiery debate has followed about what is the 'safe' mode for delivering your baby. Unfortunately this has forgotten the real point. It was not that the validity of either mode of delivery is in question, but instead that an under funded and resourced maternity service was at the root of what happened in Shrewsbury where professional decisions and choices were then flawed.

For too long the debate has solely been centred around whether a vaginal birth or C-section is the optimal mode of delivery for both you and your baby. And whilst that debate is important, it often misses the point of providing the woman with the full psychological support regardless of the decision.

Even this debate played out publicly across the media and society can leave a woman who needs or wants a C-section feeling inadequate, feeling her body is inadequate somehow and guilt and shame can result. Sadly this guilt and shame can be in the foreground of her experience, even if the birth experience she wanted was far from the scenario of a necessary or recommended C-section. These women need all the support we can muster, to let go of any guilt, that this is not only not her fault but the reassurance that it is okay, that this doesn’t change the fact that she is still having her baby, giving birth to her baby, becoming a mum to her baby. That she has every reason to feel proud of herself and her body. That sometimes things don’t go according to plan, and to forgive herself because there is nothing to forgive!

What is hypnobirthing?

Trust that your body and baby cando this
Confidence that you have the right people around you and you feel safe and comfortable enough to let go
Familiarity with that no-higher brain, no thinking, relaxed state that you can easily slip into and tune out distractions

These goals do not need to change simply because you are having a C-section rather than an experience of labour

Our hypnobirthing courses are not about trying to change your mind, nor trying to convince you that another option should be considered

However we do want you to know what your rights are in making choices and decisions. Feeling ownership of decisions can be the make or break of having a positive birth experience, one that you can look back on with pride, fond memories, and confidence.

It is not about provoking shame and guilt, instead we acknowledge that circumstances often dictate the right mode of delivery for you and your baby.

Our courses are about building your confidence-in you, your body, your birth partner and the medical team around you.

If there are any feelings of guilt, shame or failure; it is about letting go of them and moving forward to be the parent you want to be.

A journey from childbirth to becoming a new parent

Wed, 11 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I would highly recommend Sharon’s courses.

I gave birth to my son after attending her course and it was a game changer for me. I felt in control throughout. My son turned 14 last week!

Claire Louise

Support for new parents during pregnancy and childbirth. Yes the pregnant mum, but Dads too!

Fri, 13 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Dr Andrew Mayers of Bournemouth University has conducted a research study looking specifically at how men feel about the support they receive during their partner's pregnancy. At easibirthing® and parenting, we completely believe the study's reported feelings of exclusion in the whole process and pregnancy and birth can be extended to any non-birthing parent regardless of gender. Our clients often report feeling sidelined or their needs ignored.

Given how prevalent post natal depression and anxiety can be amongst new parents, regardless whether they have given birth or not, it is time as a society that we give them to space and support to adjust during pregnancy and childbirth to help prevent adverse mental health beyond.

One of the key study outcomes was fathers feeling they are not getting enough recognition from healthcare professionals about how they might play an active role in supporting their partner’s mental health.

Faced with the circumstance of birth trauma, several participants reported not receiving any support or information regarding postnatal mental illness and how they could support their partner pre- or post-birth. Other participants stated that they would have benefitted from having someone to talk to about their situation.

Fathers often felt alienated and are unclear regarding their role within maternity services. Many fathers reported feeling isolated and ignored during and following traumatic birth experiences, such as following an emergency caesarean section or any other deviation from a birth plan, especially if there is potential risk of harm, or death for the mother or child.

At easibirthing® and parenting, our goal is to fully involve both expectant parents where possible and for the process of hypnobirthing for both labour, vaginal birth and c-section to be modes of delivery for their baby that they are equipped with the tools to adapt even when circumstances dictate the birth is not going accordingly to original plan. This way both parents enter this new phase of their life with confidence, calm and feeling positive about their birth experience. All the time knowing that the support of a therapist is available at hand should they need it.

You can read more about our services and courses for mums and dads on their journey to parenthood at https://www.easibirthing.com/client-services

How to survive the first six weeks with a newborn baby

Wed, 29 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000

This beautifully written letter reminds new parents to give themselves a break...to not be too hard on themselves...to give themselves time to adjust

Dear Mummy and Daddy,

Please keep this letter from me in a place where you can read it and re-read it when things are rough and you are feeling down.Please don’t expect too much from me as a newborn baby, or too much from yourselves, as parents. Give us both six weeks as a birthday present, six weeks for me to grow, develop, mature, and become more stable and predictable – six weeks for you to rest and relax and allow your body to get back to normal.Please feed me when I am hungry, I never knew hunger in your womb and clocks and time mean little to me.Please hold, cuddle, kiss, touch, stroke and croon to me. I was always held closely in your womb and have never been left alone before.Please forgive me if I cry a lot. I am not a tyrant who was sent to make your life miserable, the only way I can tell you I’m not happy is with my cry. Bear with me and in a short time, as I mature, I will spend less time crying and more time socialising.Please take the time to find out who I am, how I differ to you and how much I can bring to you. Watch me carefully and I’ll tell you which things soothe, console and please me.Please remember I am resilient and can withstand the many natural mistakes you will make with me. As long as you make them with love I cannot be harmed.Please don’t be disappointed when I’m not the perfect baby you expected nor be disappointed with yourselves when you are not the perfect parents.Please take care of yourself, eat a balanced diet, rest, and exercise so that when we are together you have the patience and energy to take care of me. The cure for a fussy baby is more rest for Mum.Please take care of your relationship with each other. What good is family bonding if there is no family left for me to bond with?Keep the “Big Picture” in mind. I’ll be like this for a very short time, though it feels like forever to you now. Although I may have turned your life upside down, please remind yourselves that things will be back to normal before too long.Enjoy me – I will never be this little again.

SUMMER SALE NOW LIVE!

Tue, 05 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Our summer sale promotion is now LIVE - get 50% off all online and direct courses* at our easibirthing® school! Just use code 50PERCENTOFF at checkout and enjoy your new course at half price. Promotion ends on 31st July, so book now to avoid missing out

*Please note that this discount does not apply to the 23/24th July LIVE events.

What does the easibirthing and parenting service provide to parents and parents-to-be

Fri, 08 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 14 interview clips, David Watson, business coach, talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's clip (1 of 14) Sharon talks to David about what the easibirthing and parenting service provides to parents and parents-to-be.

Anxiety, shame and guilt about decisions to become a parent or not

Fri, 15 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 14 interview clips, David Watson, business coach, talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (2 of 14) Sharon talks to David about the anxiety, shame and guilt that can sometimes accompany our decisions to become a parent or not.

Supporting men and women on their journey to parenthood and beyond for over 25 years; easibirthing® and parenting offers LIVE IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE, ONLINE VIA ZOOM and ONLINE hypnosis and psychotherapy courses for fertility, pregnancy, hypnobirthing, post natal mental health & parenting support for both parents, parents-to-be, therapists & practitioners. Visit us at https://www.easibirthing.com

Overcoming subconscious blocks to fertility Video #3

Fri, 22 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 14 interview clips, David Watson, business coach, talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (3 of 14) Sharon talks to David about the mind body interaction in fertility also how and why the subconscious might block us successfully conceiving and prevent us becoming pregnant.

When the subconcious gets it wrong & a defintion for trauma podcast Video #4

Fri, 29 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 14 interview clips, David Watson, business coach, talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (4 of 14) Sharon talks to David about what happens when the subconscious tries to protect us but instead overcompensates. Sharon also provides a definition of trauma.

Supporting men and women on their journey to parenthood and beyond for over 25 years; easibirthing® and parenting offers LIVE IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE, ONLINE VIA ZOOM and ONLINE hypnosis and psychotherapy courses for fertility, pregnancy, hypnobirthing, post natal mental health & parenting support for both parents, parents-to-be, therapists & practitioners. Check out our courses for parents, parents-to-be and professionals at https://school.easibirthing.com

How we can re learn from the past and heal from unhelpful emotional reactions Video #5

Thu, 04 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 14 interview clips, David Watson, business coach, talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (5 of 14) Sharon talks to David about what happens when our brain operating system gets it wrong and how hypnotherapy and psychotherapy can help us re-learn from the past and heal from unhelpful emotional reactions.

Unexplained infertility and when stress and psychology work against us Video #6

Wed, 17 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 14 interview clips, David Watson, business coach, talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (6 of 14) Sharon talks to David about unexplained infertility and when stress and psychology works against our ability to concieve.

Survival of the species & avoiding fight or flight in the animal kingdom when giving birth Video #7

Wed, 24 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 14 interview clips, David Watson, business coach, talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (7 of 14) Sharon talks to David about the survival of the species & avoiding fight or flight in the animal kingdom when giving birth.

Supporting men and women on their journey to parenthood and beyond for over 25 years; easibirthing® and parenting offer LIVE IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE, ONLINE VIA ZOOM and ONLINE hypnosis and psychotherapy courses for fertility, pregnancy, hypnobirthing, postnatal mental health & parenting support for both parents, parents-to-be, therapists & practitioners. Visit us at https://www.easibirthing.com

Inspiration behind easibirthing hypnobirthing and the miracle of childbirth

Fri, 02 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 14 interview clips, David Watson, business coach, talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (8 of 14) Sharon talks to David about the inspiration behind easibirthing hypnobirthing and the miracle of childbirth.

Mind body connection working in harmony metaphor and mother baby symbiotic relationship Video #9

Wed, 07 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 14 interview clips, David Watson, business coach, talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (9 of 14) Sharon talks to David about the mind body connection, the working in harmony metaphor and the mother and baby symbiotic relationship.

Supporting men and women on their journey to parenthood and beyond for over 25 years; easibirthing® and parenting offers LIVE IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE, ONLINE VIA ZOOM and ONLINE hypnosis and psychotherapy courses for fertility, pregnancy, hypnobirthing, post natal mental health & parenting support for both parents, parents-to-be, therapists & practitioners. Visit us at https://www.easibirthing.com

Human evolution and the history of intervention in birth & hypnosis for pain management Video #10

Wed, 14 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 14 interview clips, David Watson, business coach, talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (10 of 14) Sharon talks to David about human evolution, the history of intervention in birth & hypnosis for pain management.

Supporting men and women on their journey to parenthood and beyond for over 25 years; easibirthing® and parenting offers LIVE IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE, ONLINE VIA ZOOM and ONLINE hypnosis and psychotherapy courses for fertility, pregnancy, hypnobirthing, post natal mental health & parenting support for both parents, parents-to-be, therapists & practitioners. Visit us at https://www.easibirthing.com

Hypnosis is not simply about relaxation but a way of updating our beliefs when unhelpful. Video #11

Wed, 21 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 14 interview clips, David Watson, business coach, talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (11 of 14) Sharon talks to David about how hypnosis is not simply about relaxation but a way of updating our beliefs when unhelpful & how we process information.

Supporting men and women on their journey to parenthood and beyond for over 25 years; easibirthing® and parenting offers LIVE IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE, ONLINE VIA ZOOM and ONLINE hypnosis and psychotherapy courses for fertility, pregnancy, hypnobirthing, post natal mental health & parenting support for both parents, parents-to-be, therapists & practitioners. Visit us at https://www.easibirthing.com

Hypnosis as a safe state when in autopilot whilst driving VIDEO #12

Wed, 28 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 14 interview clips, David Watson, business coach, talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (12 of 14) Sharon talks to David about hypnosis as a safe state when in autopilot whilst driving.

Supporting men and women on their journey to parenthood and beyond for over 25 years; easibirthing® and parenting offers LIVE IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE, ONLINE VIA ZOOM and ONLINE hypnosis and psychotherapy courses for fertility, pregnancy, hypnobirthing, post natal mental health & parenting support for both parents, parents-to-be, therapists & practitioners. Visit us at http://www.easibirthing.com

Labourland in birth & believing in what's possible

Fri, 07 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 14 interview clips, David Watson, business coach, talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (13 of 14) Sharon talks to David about Labourland in birth, being in the zone, Usain Bolt & Roger Bannister. Believing in what is possible.

Supporting men and women on their journey to parenthood and beyond for over 25 years; easibirthing® and parenting offers LIVE IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE, ONLINE VIA ZOOM and ONLINE hypnosis and psychotherapy courses for fertility, pregnancy, hypnobirthing, post natal mental health & parenting support for both parents, parents-to-be, therapists & practitioners. Visit us at http://www.easibirthing.com

Hypnosis as a powerful tool in believing what is possible and what you are capable of Video #14

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In a series of 14 interview clips, David Watson, business coach, talks to our founder and director Sharon Mustard about psychology, philosophy and the driving forces behind the easibirthing® and parenting ethos. In today's podcast (14 of 14) Sharon talks to David about hypnosis as a powerful tool in believing what is possible and what you are capable of in fertility, pregnancy, birth and parenthood.

Supporting men and women on their journey to parenthood and beyond for over 25 years; easibirthing® and parenting offers LIVE IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE, ONLINE VIA ZOOM and ONLINE hypnosis and psychotherapy courses for fertility, pregnancy, hypnobirthing, post natal mental health & parenting support for both parents, parents-to-be, therapists & practitioners. Visit us at https://www.easibirthing.com

Ami's feedback for our cpd for therapists course

Fri, 21 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Our cpd for therapists course on 7 steps to building a successful therapy business

"The questions we were encouraged to ask ourselves, along with the group exercises, were very thought provoking and beneficial in the reflection they gave rise to. I found the training to be a refreshing approach to this topic, with plenty of sound advice, new information and interesting additions, all delivered in a relaxed but also engaging way. Sharon's warmth, enthusiasm, and experience in this field really shone through even though we were on Zoom, and I came away feeling very uplifted and more confident about my next steps." Ami

This CPD course was hosted by New Horizon Training Ltd. Next LIVE date Sunday 12th March 2023 (attend in-person in SALISBURY or virtually via ZOOM)

Read about our full LIVE, VIRTUAL and ONLINE cpd for therapists on our accredited cpd courses directory here

How to have a positive birth experience

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

How to have a positive birth experience

Becoming a new parent is a wonderful experience. It is the start of an exciting though sometimes overwhelming journey. Especially in the days leading up to a birth, pregnant mothers may begin to feel nervous about the ‘unknown’. Having the right knowledge and tools to create a positive birth experience can change the process entirely.

Hypnobirthing

Hypnobirthing is an established and effective practice used by many women to create a positive birth experience. Our trained easibirthing therapists can teach you various self-hypnosis methods to nurture a relaxed and peaceful birthing environment. Our delivery and labour techniques can be learnt well in advance of your due date, enabling you to build up knowledge and tools over time.

What does hypnobirthing involve?

Hypnobirthing provides you with the right tools to prepare your mind and body for birth and to focus on the positive aspects of the birthing experience.

Pain free childbirth

The mind can be trained to deal with pain in different ways. Hypnobirthing breathing techniques and visualisations are used to transform feeling of pain or discomfort. Positive birth affirmations and practices can help you experience a positive and pain free birth.

Dealing with tokophobia

Our easibirthing techniques can also help to manage tokophobia (the fear of childbirth). With pregnancy and birth comes uncertainty and this can feel frightening. If you suffer from tokophobia, we can help you to find trust in your body’s natural abilities and take charge of your fear to create a positive birth experience.

Facing the unexpected

Births don’t always go to plan. Sometimes, a vaginal birth may not be possible and a Caesarean-Section is required. Sometimes, mothers hoping to avoid drugs or surgery may have to consider these options. Our therapists can train you to deal with the unexpected, teaching you ways to remain relaxed even when things don’t go to plan.

Healing shame and guilt

Having a positive C-Section can also be influenced by hypnosis techniques. Some women undergoing C-sections may experience feelings of shame and guilt, triggered by the worry that their body is somehow at fault. Our approach is an all-inclusive one, helping all women regardless of their delivery choices. We acknowledge that C-sections are sometimes the right path for an expectant mother and help to heal any negative feelings.

What are the benefits of hypnobirthing?

Hypnobirthing can take time but the results are rewarding. Techniques can help you to manage pain and remain calm and in control no matter what happens. Hypnobirthing can:

be used in hospitals, birth centres, or at home
help you to feel more awake, energised and empowered
mean less risk for you and baby due to less or no use of analgesic drugs
be a good option if you want to use less pain medication or have a non-medicated birth.
create a more positive birth experience even if you have a high-risk pregnancy.
encourage positive Post Natal mental health

How to start hypnobirthing with our easibirthing courses

We use relaxation, breathing and visualisation techniques to teach you how to relax your mind and body for a more positive birth experience. You will take control of your body, building a new relationship with it as you learn to trust in its natural abilities.

Hypnobirthing for C-section

We aren’t here to change your mind about having a C-section. We want to help you take control of your body and take ownership of your choices. This course will teach you to feel confident and relaxed, to develop C-section positive birth affirmations and techniques and have a more positive C-section hypnobirthing experience as a result.

Hypnobirthing for labour and vaginal birth

Can you teach yourself hypnobirthing? Absolutely! We offer an online course or live sessions with one of our skilled therapists to train you in self-hypnosis techniques. With our self-hypnosis techniques, we can help you to prepare your mind and body for a positive labour and vaginal birthing experience.

Get in touch today

We cannot emphasise enough the importance of having a positive birth experience. If you or anyone you know would benefit from hypnotherapy, contact us today for advice and support or to book a place on one of our hypnobirthing courses.

10 ways hypnobirthing can help conquer a fear of childbirth

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Could a hypnobirthing help banish your fear of childbirth?

It is a sad recognition in our society that fear of childbirth is a growing trend, and clearly not one to celebrate. Currently estimated that over 20% of pregnant women report fear of childbirth and 6% describe a childbirth fear that is disabling.

Regardless of where women are along the fear of childbirth continuum, and even when they have no fear whatsoever, hypnobirthing is an effective way to empower you to control your fear of childbirth and not let it control you.

There are a number of elements that hypnobirthing addresses that come together to help combat women and men’s fear of childbirth.

1. ADAPTION

Childbirth is a fundamentally human and meaningful time. All women hope for a joyful, positive birth experience. However, the birth process is uncertain, so it is normal to experience anxiety, worries or fear of labour or childbirth itself. Hypnobirthing can help you develop tools to respond to uncertainties and equip you to adapt when it is not going according to plan without spiralling into anxiety.

2. EDUCATION

Hypnobirthing can educate you in how your body is designed and works through the different stages of labour and birth. Did you know that the uterus is an expulsive organ? The natural expulsive reflex is so powerful that it is capable of expelling a baby even if a woman is in a coma!

3. RELATIONSHIPS

Hypnobirthing can help you develop rapport with your midwife and other birth professionals. We assist you to develop trust that your professional support team not only have yours and your baby’s best interests at heart but will also listen to your concerns and be sensitive to your emotional as well as your physical needs.

4. COMMUNICATION

Sadly so much fear of childbirth or even birth trauma relating from a previous birth experience can be done to a lack of effective communication with birth professionals. Hypnobirthing helps you to make your wishes known and for your birth professional to be an advocate in communicating what your priorities are.

5. EMPOWERMENT

It is essential for a positive birth experience that you feel empowered to ask questions and know your legal rights in making decisions. This assists with avoiding feeling helpless, regardless of the circumstances. With hypnobirthing we show you how to be not just involved in decision making, but how to be the person with the final say with your expert advisors around you!

Read our how to have a positive birth experience BLOG here

6. BONDING AND ATTACHMENT

Oxytocin is known as the love hormone, key in the progression of labour, bonding and breastfeeding your baby. By teaching you to regulate your emotions, hypnobirthing embraces your inner calm. This allows oxytocin to be suppressed by the stress hormones, allowing you to bond with your body, and for them to securely attach to you.

7. CONFIDENCE

For some fear of childbirth can have its origins in a previous birth experience or a trauma experience from the past that is not related to birth at all. Perhaps the media portrayal of birth or others relating their own birth stories have left you frightened? Remember this information can often be biased, telling only the dramatic view. As always bad news travels faster than good news. Refuse to let it become your skewed view of birth.

8. MANAGING DISCOMFORT

There is a wealth of clinical evidence as to how hypnosis can alter your perception and experience of pain. However the function of pain is about telling us there is something wrong. Pain is not an inevitable part of a natural labour where the process is proceeding as it is designed to do. Did you know that 69% women having been trained in hypnobirthing have been shown to use no pain relief whatsoever, even gas and air!

9. INVOLVING BIRTH PARTNERS

Paternal fear of childbirth can impact fathers’ ability to be emotionally and physically supportive of their partner and affect their ability to assume a fatherhood role during a vulnerable time of transition. Also mums-to-be who are birth partners, but not the woman giving birth can specifically worry about the welfare of their partner or child and pass the fight or flight activation of their own nervous system onto their partner giving birth. We strongly encourage birth partners to be fully involved in the process of learning hypnobirthing techniques themselves.

10. C-SECTIONS

Yes, you heard right! Hypnobirthing is not just for labour and vaginal birth but also for C-sections. A good quality hypnobirthing for labour and birth course should include the tools to psychologically adjust even if a medical intervention or even an emergency caesarean section becoming necessary. There are also specialist hypnobirthing courses available for planned c-sections (known as elective C-sections) so that fear of a surgical birth is eliminated.

"Hypnobirthing can educate you in how your body is designed and works through the different stages of labour and birth."

Sign up today for one-to-one in-person or video sessions with a practitioner OR an online course to complete at your own pace!

10 ways to avoid postnatal anxiety

Fri, 24 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Having a baby can be an anxious time with all the new expectations and so many new things to learn. All new mums and dads need to take steps to protect them selves from this escalating into something that can be difficult to switch off. Post natal anxiety is very closely aligned to post natal depression, and it can be difficult to distinguish between them.

Read Sharon Mustard's expert article featured on MyBump2Baby here Postnatal anxiety-10 ways to avoid it

You can also read my expert article on Tokophobia - Fear of Childbirth on MyBump2Baby

Fertility to Parenthood and everything in between.

Fri, 14 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Take a peek at the live instagram chat with Clare Stead of Oliiki where we talked all things therapy for parents and parents-to-be https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq8EGt9JnEe/...

Listen to the interview where I talk to Clare Stead from the wonderful Oliiki app. We cover from fertility to parenthood and everything in between, Sharon Mustard from @easibirthingfertility2parent tells us all about the support she can offer you in your pregnancy journey.

Building a relationship with your baby after birth

Fri, 12 May 2023 00:00:00 +0000

"Providing the environment to build a healthy relationship with your baby in the weeks after birth is essential for both of you"

Why is an early relationship with your baby important for a newborn?

The importance of forming an intimate early relationship between mother and baby has been emphasised for several decades. A wealth of research has shown that the quality of the early relationship with your baby can have lasting effects on a child’s development, including socio-emotional adaption, cognitive development, language development, a child’s future mental health. Even a child’s attachment style- the quality of their emotional bond in future relationships.

Why is an early relationship with your baby important for mum?

Let’s face it-society can neglect the needs of mothers in the early days and weeks after birth. Postpartum depression and postnatal anxiety have been strongly connected to how mum’s need to spend uninterrupted time with her baby and given time and space to rest herself. We need to look after our new mums as well as new babies. We often talk about the birth of a mother, as well as the birth of a baby. She needs time to get used to this new role, as you would expect with any new role in life.

How your baby encourages the early mother baby relationship to form

The human brain does 70% of its growth outside of the womb. In an important evolutionary adaptation, the human newborn is available at the earliest hours of life for connection and complex communication. In a calm, quiet setting, at just a few hours of age a baby will turn to a mother’s voice, follow her face, make imitating movements with his mouth. He makes himself available for falling in love.

You are biologically programmed to know what to do with building a relationship with your baby

For a new human parent, the young infant’s absolute dependence may translate to no sleep, no showers, no ability to do anything but care for the baby. Harvey Karp has referred to this time period as the 4th trimester.

But as paediatrician turned psychoanalyst D.W.Winnicott identified, a mother knows what to do. He referred to this kind of care as “primary maternal preoccupation”, a preoccupation that is not only healthy but also highly adaptive. The problem lies in the fact that in contemporary culture new mothers do not themselves have a “holding environment” that supports caring for the baby in the way his immature nervous system requires. J Ronald Lally described this as the “social womb”.

Tips to help facilitate the relationship with your baby to get what you both need

Ringfence the time with your baby by limiting visitors in the early days. The only entitlement is for you and your baby to have time to adjust. Don’t be afraid to say no and set boundaries that feel right for you.

Limiting visitors does not mean you can’t ask for help. Whether it is your partner, family, friends, neighbours or hired maternity support; ask for what you need on your terms whether this be cooking meals, housework, shopping, or a bit of adult company when you want it.

Avoid complete social isolation. Whilst you need time to develop your relationship with your baby, it is important that you ask for a bit of adult company when you want it.

Remain aware of your own physical healing. It takes your body approximately six weeks to heal. This is a time of unparalleled change in your body as your reproductive tract returns to its nonpregnant state. In addition, your cardiovascular, respiratory, musculo-skeletal, urologic, gastrointestinal, endocrine, and nervous systems all also return to a nonpregnant state.

Learning to Breastfeed as part of the developing relationship. If you’re breastfeeding for the first time—or even if you’ve breastfed several babies, it can take time to master this practice, and it can be emotionally frustrating. Take the time and space to do this without feeling it has to be perfect. Reach out to breastfeeding support professionals and groups of mums in your local area if needbe.

Avoid unrealistic expectations of bonding with your baby Most people still believe that mother/infant bonding happens immediately and completely, right after birth. Some lucky women do experience “love at first sight.” For others, bonding can take a week or more. In any case, bonding is an ongoing process that requires a tranquil postpartum period.

Hormonal changes continue to happen after birth While your hormones are hard at work helping every cell and organ in your body to return to their pre-pregnancy state, the fluctuating levels may leave you feeling vulnerable and fatigued. Until your body recovers, you may cry at the drop of a hat or feel an overwhelming sense of joy. Unless prolonged, this is entirely normal.

Dealing With New Emotions Even if you have other children, you’re now faced with a completely new experience. The new sense of responsibility, your protective love for your new baby, and your fears for his health and safety can seem overwhelming—and you need time to adjust to these new emotions.

Adjusting to Relationships No matter how well you’ve planned things, your relationship with your partner will undergo changes. Until you both adjust to the new situation, it can be stressful. If you have other children, you may feel guilty for taking attention away from them, or you may mourn the loss of the exclusive relationship you once had with an older child.

Starting the Process of Separation For many months, you and your baby have been functioning as one. The postpartum period is the first step in a long and gradual process of separation that will carry on for many years. It may feel strange at first, and takes getting used to.

Learning New Things While changing a nappy is not intrinsically difficult, it is new. So are a hundred other things about a new baby. How do you answer the telephone while breastfeeding? How do you bathe a baby? How can you schedule anything? even reading the newspaper—when you don’t know when the baby will be sleeping? You’ll be learning these new skills “on the job,” and it will take time to develop your own methods.

Think of the first few days after the birth as your “lying-in” period, just as women did in past history. Consider staying in bed for most of the first week. Dress in your pyjamas to remind yourself to take it easy, and if you feel more energetic and are able to get up and do more, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Learn more about our online courses for parents:

How to be a good enough parent

Helping your child develop a positive sense of self

The Essential Guide to Matrescence BLOG by Katherine Hale

Fri, 30 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

What is Matrescence?

The word Matrescence, “The Birth of a Mother”, was coined by Dana Raphae in 1973. Matrescence is defined as the physical, psychological, hormonal, social and emotional changes associated with the transition to motherhood. Despite it being deemed as significant as adolescence it only entered the Cambridge Dictionary for the first time in 2020! This is hardly surprising when the primary focus is very much on the baby during pregnancy, birth and the post-natal period. The mother is often forgotten and rarely ever effectively supported. This lack of awareness means many women are wrongly diagnosed with post-natal depression, when in actual fact, they are just starting out on their Matrescence journey.

How did the term Matrescence come about?

Dana Raphae stated in 1973 that “giving birth does not automatically make a mother out of a woman. It takes time to become a mother.” Research over subsequent years was minimal. However Dr Aurelie Athan, a sociologist from Columbia University, reinvigorated the topic in 2000. She believes motherhood to be the spiritual birth of a women and the greatest story never told. Dr Alexandra Sacks, a clinical psychologist, in 2018, further popularised Matrescence. Her Ted Talk entitled “A new way to think about motherhood” provided women across the World with a new perspective.

Why is Matrescence so important to understand?

Matrescence impacts every aspect of our lives. It is fundamentally important for women to better understand the term and it’s effect. I certainly did not expect the emotional tug of war that Dr Alexandra discusses in her Ted Talk. It certainly took some time to get used to "motherhood" as my new norm. It is therefore so important for all women to understand Matrescence for the following reasons:

Expectations rarely meet reality. Matrescence hits you at different stages of your motherhood journey. Pregnant women need to be made aware of the transformation they will go through. This will enable their expectations to be better aligned to reality.
Brain Changes. It is well recognised that the brain changes shape and composition during pregnancy. These changes enable mothers to bond with and support their new borns more effectively. The changes often result in “brain fog” which is perfectly normal during Matrescence. Women suffer well before the menopause!
Medical intervention. Post-natal depletion, defined by Dr Oscar Serrallach as the physical and mental deterioration caused by the stresses and strains of modern parenthood is extremely common in mothers up to 7 years post birth. The feelings of exhaustion and hyper-vigilance are perfectly normal and very much associated with the a mother’s Matrescence journey. For more info visit www.oscarserrallach.com.
Sleep. Matrescence impacts your sleep patterns. The importance of sleep cannot be under-estimated. Although new mums are often sleep deprived it is so important to prioritise sleep and take it where you can.
Visitors. It is perfectly ok to say “No”, especially to visitors in the first few days after birth. This is a unique time and one meant for bonding and taking things slow. Anything that puts added pressure on mums should be limited. Dr Serrallach highlights how important it is for parents to be left to their own devices to connect with themselves, each other and their new baby in those the early days of parenthood.
Wider support. No mother no matter how experienced she is should feel bad asking for support. But most nearly always do! Having time out and space to reconnect with herself as a women during Matrescence is vitally important in order to thrive. It is ok to ask for help and admit your struggles; this will only make mothers stronger in the future.

What is Matrescence Coaching?

Matrescence coaching supports mothers to better understand themselves and their new identity as a mum. It enables clients to recognise that the emotions they have are perfectly normal and it supports mothers to piece their Matrescence puzzle together.

We live in a culture where motherhood is undervalued. Our patriarchal society leads many mothers to question their core beliefs about both motherhood and womanhood. This can result in lost confidence, anxiety, guilt and resentment.

To be the best mum we can be, it is important for all women to be effectively supported. Entering motherhood is probably the most significant transformation of their lives. Mothers need to trust themselves and broader society if a strong, authentic new version of themself is to emerge.

In order to thrive as a mum, it is important that all women are given the opportunity to learn about Matrescence. By raising their self-awareness as they transition into and through motherhood, will enable mums to thrive more quickly.

In agreement with Amy Taylor-Kabaz, author of Mama Rising (www.amytaylorkabbaz.com), I believe all mothers need to:

Learn to value themselves without judgement of others
Demonstrate kindness and self-compassion, limiting their negative inner critic as much as possible
Know where their strengths lie
Rest and take time out when they need to
Trust themselves, their inner feminine and society to hold their back when times get tough
Feel connected to themselves, their partners, friends and family, work and their higher purpose

Matrescence coaching supports mums to do just this!

Why was Thrive in Motherhood established?

I had not heard of the word Matrescence until the birth of my third child. Only now do I recognise how transformative understanding this word can be. The emotional rollercoaster and the massive lose of identity I felt when I chose not to return to my senior well-paid corporate job I loved was huge. Little support was available to explain why I felt like I did!

Thrive in Motherhood is on a mission to get Matrescence discussed from boardrooms to play parks and from offices to kitchen tables. We need to rewrite the modern day definition of being a women without judgement. Motherhood should be equally valued and respected as any paid employment. Society needs to recognise that mothers are no longer the stereotypical 1950s housewife. We need to feel valued, self-worthy and empowered both at home and in the workplace.

Want to learn more …

For those reading this and struggling with overwhelm, I’m running a free online masterclass on Mon 3 Jul at 8pm. It's entitled “Overwhelm: What mothers really need to know (How to manage it over the long summer holidays!) Registration is via my website www.thriveinmotherhood.co.uk. or my Instagram bio link https://www.instagram.com/thrive_in_motherhood/.

My next group coaching programme is starting in the Autumn. Join me for a Q&A session on Tues 18 Jul at 8pm (BST) if you want to know more. You can register on my website at www.thriveinmotherhood.co.uk.

For more info about me, my coaching services and my forthcoming retreat, please visit the website. You can also download you free “Understanding Your Matrescence Journey” Guide there too! www.thriveinmotherhood.co.uk.

Katherine Hale

Founder of Thrive in Motherhood

Having been a Transformation Director at EY, Katherine understands change from both a corporate and personal perspective.

She has learnt to love her new “mum identity” having stepped away from corporate life and a 6-figure salary to do something different. She became an entrepreneur, business owner, founder of Thrive in Motherhood last year. Her coaching practice, supporting women transition into and through motherhood, was established whilst bringing up three pre-schoolers! Her first group coaching programme sold out only 8 weeks after signing her first client!

As a certified Matrescence coach and NLP practitioner her clients have all benefited from her proven framework. Her next REACT group coaching programme starts in the Autumn where she will be exploring the themes and topics discussed here in more detail. For more information and to register take a look at her website www.thriveinmotherhood.co.uk.

Overcoming Birth Trauma-Time to Heal

Fri, 22 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Our founder Sharon Mustard teams up with Katherine Hale of 'Thrive in Motherhood' to look at how there is life beyond birth trauma. Women can, and do overcome this challenging period to enjoy parenting their child in a way that they want to, and may well have expected to.

So many new mothers and fathers talk about feeling they have been robbed of a positive childbirth experience where they felt listened to, acknowledged, valued and in control of their decisions. As social beings, social connectedness is the cornerstone of a birth that truly is the beginning of the next phase in our lives.

In this guest blog, Sharon covers 'Ten things to think about when experiencing birth trauma'. You can access the blog here